{"product_id":"iko-cherie_soft-centre_2025_dif","title":"Soft Centre","description":"« Soft Centre » is the 2025 album by Iko Chérie, the solo project of French multi-instrumentalist Marie Merlet, based in London. She blends dub-influenced textures, pop vocals, reverb-drenched guitars, Casio drones, and warm experimental sounds to create her own intimate and fragile music. The album, which Merlet largely produced and performed herself, is the result of an introspective process, with many sketches recorded on tour. The result is a deeply personal work, balancing light and darkness in a Lynchian dream-pop haze. Songs like « We Smoke That Peace Pipe » and « Bilbao » oscillate between vulnerability and resilience, while the single « Ghosted Ghosters of the Holy G » captures the immediacy of a one-take dub bassline. Some tracks retain the character of improvised snapshots (« Intelligent Women », « Half a Metaphor »), while others reveal her meticulous production process and songwriting talent (« Tears in the Sea », « Luciférine »). Merlet describes « Soft Centre » as a piece vibrating with radical tenderness, exposed, open, and vibrant. Influenced by the prose of Clarice Lispector, the poetry of Diane di Prima, and the environmental writings of Rachel Carson, as well as Marie's fascination with a vintage Roland Space Echo, the album is an invitation to connection, which she describes as \"... a meditation for healing, I hope.\" A versatile musician trained in classical piano, jazz, and electroacoustic composition, Merlet has long navigated different soundscapes. She has collaborated with Laetitia Sadier of Monade and performed with Gina Birch (The Raincoats), Malphino, Yama Warashi, and several other groups. She recently appeared as a guest vocalist on Stereolab's latest album. Her debut solo album, Dreaming On (Elefant Records, 2015), revealed her unique sense of melody; with Soft Centre, she ventures deeper inward, forging her own distinctive voice in experimental pop.","brand":"Iko Chérie","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55884017271128,"sku":null,"price":23993053.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/4015698329735.jpg?v=1760466268","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/iko-cherie_soft-centre_2025_dif","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}