Frou Frou (band)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox musical artist
Frou Frou are an English electronic duo composed of musician and singer Imogen Heap and record producer Guy Sigsworth. On tour they were joined by David Daniels on guitar and keyboards. Daniels was the remix producer for their tracks on the Garden State soundtrack.They released their only studio album, Details, in 2002. It yielded their breakout single "Breathe In", which appeared on the UK Singles Chart, and also contained the song "Let Go", which rose to popularity in the United States due to its use in the Grammy Award–winning soundtrack for Zach Braff's 2004 film Garden State. Details was received warmly by critics but sold poorly and, with no plans to release a follow-up record, the duo amicably disbanded. They briefly reunited in 2004 to record the song "Holding Out for a Hero" for the 2004 film Shrek 2Template:'s soundtrack.
In 2017, Frou Frou reunited for Heap's Mycelia Tour. "A New Kind of Love", an unreleased demo of theirs, went viral on TikTok in 2021. They officially released it the following year—with it later charting on BillboardTemplate:'s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart in 2025—as the lead single of their archival extended play (EP) Off Cuts (2022), which consisted of demos.
History
1997–2002: Introductions
Heap and Sigsworth met in 1996 when Heap was 17 years old after Sigsworth was given a demo recorded by Heap and asked to meet with her. The two first collaborated when Heap contributed guest vocals to Sigsworth's band Acacia. Sigsworth later wrote two songs for Heap's 1998 debut studio album, I Megaphone, including her debut single, "Getting Scared".<ref name="hmvbio">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="aurgasm">Template:Cite web</ref> As Heap went on tour throughout North America and Europe to promote the album, Sigsworth continued to write and produce for other artists, including Madonna and Björk.<ref name="abcimmi">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="all music2">Template:Cite web</ref> As Heap's record label Almo Sounds lost funding, they asked Heap for a second album, and dropped her soon after being acquired by Universal, while Acacia was disbanded.<ref name="immibest">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="hmvbio" />
Sigsworth began work on an album in 2001, which he initially envisioned as a solo album consisting of songs written and produced by Sigsworth with features from various singers, poets, and rappers.<ref name="abcimmi" /> After working with Heap on a song, Sigsworth instead decided to form Frou Frou with her, and the two began working on an album together.<ref name="hmvbio" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2002–2003: Details
On 15 July 2002, Frou Frou released their first and only album, Details, through Island Records and MCA Records.<ref name="NewEnBB" /> Heap stated that the two had not planned on making a follow-up album at the time due to their both being "kind of free spirits".<ref name="BtLSpeaking" /> The lead single of Details, "Breathe In", was released to modern rock and college rock stations soon after the album's release, with a music video starring Robin Tunney. It reached number two on the Italian radio airplay charts and debuted in the top-50 of the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref> It was described as their breakout hit.<ref name="UtRSfY">Template:Cite web</ref> The 2003 music video for their song "The Dumbing Down of Love" was directed by Joel Peissig and won the award for best video at RESFest.<ref name="BBMCA">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album's song "Let Go", which was originally written for the 2002 film Phone Booth but did not end up being used, became one of the duo's most popular songs after being included on the soundtrack of Zach Braff's 2004 film Garden State, which was released through Epic Records in August of that year and won a Grammy Award.<ref name="sglist">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="BtLSpeaking">Template:Cite web</ref> Its appearance in the film led to an increase in record sales for Details and brought Frou Frou to a wider international audience.<ref name="metrosixty">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="vulthofah">Template:Cite web</ref> By 2009, Details had sold 284 thousand copies.<ref name="FastTrack">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
For Drowned in Sound, Andy Thomas wrote in a review of Details that its songs were "good, if not overly ambitious" and "pleasant enough to do the washing up to".<ref name="DeetDiS">Template:Cite web</ref> In a four-and-a-half out of five star review, Alex Henderson of AllMusic praised Details for its "attractive" production, "solid songwriting", and "expressive vocals".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Heap later said that Island Records "did an absolutely terrible job of marketing [Details]" due to being more focused on promoting Sugababes at the time.<ref name="NewEnBB">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The album sold poorly and Island dropped Frou Frou from the label but offered Heap a solo deal, which she turned down.<ref name="guardian2006">Template:Cite web</ref> The two soon disbanded the group, though they gained a cult following in the following few years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2004, Chris Douridas, a DJ for KCRW and the music supervisor for the animated film Shrek 2, reached out to Sigsworth about recording a cover of Bonnie Tyler's 1984 song "Holding Out for a Hero" for the film. Sigsworth wanted Heap to sing on the cover and the two soon reunited as Frou Frou to record a rendition of the song, which appeared in the film's closing credits.<ref name="VultShrek">Template:Cite web</ref>
The duo also worked together in 2003 on a track for Britney Spears's fourth album In The Zone,<ref name="all music2"/> entitled "Over To You Now". The track was written by Sigsworth, Swedish pop star Robyn and her long-term songwriting companion, and Sigsworth asked Heap to come in and make the song more suitable for Spears, adding backing vocals and making the track more electronic music-infused. Despite not being used on In The Zone, the track was released in late 2005 on the Japan CD single of Spears' single, "Someday (I Will Understand)" and on the UK and Japan bonus CDs of the DVD release of her reality TV show, Britney and Kevin: Chaotic.Template:Citation needed
2017Template:Endashpresent: Live reunion, Off Cuts
In November 2017, it was announced that Heap and Sigsworth would be reuniting as Frou Frou during Imogen Heap's Mycelia Tour throughout 2018 and 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2019, Frou Frou released a live recording of "Guitar Song", their first single in 15 years and one of two singles not released at the time of the band's initial break-up, through We Are Hear.<ref name="guitar_song_live">Template:Cite web</ref> Also in 2019, Australian musician Vierre Cloud released a drum and bass remix of "A New Kind of Love", then an unreleased demo by Frou Frou that had been cut from Details.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The remix went viral on TikTok in 2021 and, by 2024, had accrued more than 400 million streams on Spotify, also garnering attention for the original online. "A New Kind of Love" was officially released by the duo in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It peaked at number 30 on BillboardTemplate:'s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart in January 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In late March 2022, Heap partnered with Symphonic Distribution to re-release previous material. Off Cuts, an extended play (EP) consisting of Frou Frou demos, was released digitally and on streaming platforms in June 2022, with "A New Kind of Love" as its lead single.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A vinyl of the EP was released for Record Store Day in April 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A studio version of the "Guitar Song" demo released as the second single in May 2022.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>Template:Better source needed
Frou Frou re-released the song Aeroplane as a single on Spotify, with two versions from previously recorded material.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Better source needed In March of the same year, Frou Frou gave their first live performance since 2019 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for the 20th anniversary of the Garden State soundtrack, performing "Let Go".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Musical style and legacy
Frou Frou's music has been described as electronic,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> electropop,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="sggs">Template:Cite web</ref> synth-pop,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and alternative pop.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Amaya Lin of The Line of Best Fit wrote in 2023 that Frou Frou's music in the 2000s "unearth[ed] something alien and ethereal in 2002" to become "a blueprint for the electronic pop renaissance of the 2020s".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Esther Zuckerman of Thrillist called Frou Frou "the undeniable champion of 2004 soundtracks" for their contributions to Shrek 2 and Garden State.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Details |
|
EPs
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK DL <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
US Curr. <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> |
US Heat <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | ||
| Off Cuts |
|
91 | 63 | 19 |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
US Rock/ Alt. <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> |
US Adult Pop <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> |
US Dance Club <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | |||
| "Breathe In" | 2002 | 44 | — | 33 | 23 | Details |
| "Must Be Dreaming" | — | — | — | 16 | ||
| "It's Good to Be in Love" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "A New Kind of Love" | 2022 | — | 30 | — | — | Off Cuts |
| "Guitar Song" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Aeroplane" | 2025 | — | — | — | — | |
See also
References
- Vincent Jeffries. Frou Frou. MTV.com. Accessed 29 August 2004.