French composer, musician and producer Angèle David-Guillou compares her distinctive contemporary compositions to scripts, where flow and clarity appear natural but are designed and chosen with precision and intent. Her music explores concepts around movement, reflection, illusion, and the manipulations of sonic realisms, with acute attention to detail in the characters of her rich instrumental architecture. 

Her latest album 'Music for PAN TO MIME' is being released on Bandcamp the 1st of April 2025. This is her sixth long playing release under her own name, following three albums and two maxi EPs on Village Green. Her previous opus, 'A Question of Angles', was released in 2021, receiving glowing four-star reviews in Mojo and the Financial Times among others. It was preceded by the ambient EP ‘Sans Mouvement’, her final release of the Mouvement trilogy,  recorded on the organ at the Union Chapel in London. Her 2017's album ‘En Mouvement’ took cues from a broad range of influences, including the films of Tarkovsky, Central Asian dance, and Philip Glass's Glassworks, to explore how transformation could be achieved through repetition. A partner maxi EP also released in 2017, ‘Mouvements Organiques’ experimented with these compositions, reworking them for organ. Her first album under her own name, ‘Kourouma’, was released in 2013, inspired by French mélodie compositions and the flamboyant arrangements of European and Latin American Baroque music.  

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Noted for their dynamic and cinematic qualities, David-Guillou's distinctive orchestral chamber pieces have featured in TV programmes and feature films, and her compositions have been particularly favoured by illustrious fashion brands including Valentino Haute Couture, Burberry, Gucci and Hugo Boss.

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Extending the amplitude of her orchestration further, in 2023 Angèle re-orchestrated seven of her compositions for symphonic orchestra, for the Force Majeure ballet, now part of the repertoire of Darmstadt’s state ballet and orchestra, in Germany: ‘For the music alone, the performance is worth a visit’ (Faust Kultur, 14 April 2023).

David-Guillou previously sang and played keyboard and electric guitar in rock/pop bands – an activity that led her to feature on numerous albums and took her all over Europe, either in the guise of her solo project, Klima, as part of UK ensemble Piano Magic, or French electro pop band Ginger Ale. She currently performs live with experimental duo BAG. 

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David-Guillou produces her own music, which she describes as an integral part of her creative process. "Production can add another layer of realism or surrealism," she explains. Her production is about drawing out the unique characters of each of the instruments she uses, retaining details like the sound of a foot on a piano pedal, or pushing instruments outside their traditional range to draw out details such as the brittle edges of brass notes. 

Her experience as a singer also means she gives particular attention to the voice of each instrument she composes for. As such, David-Guillou’s approach to composition is to write scores as if they are script, to direct instruments like actors with character and personalities, and to transpose the precise irregularities and rhythms of lyrical scripts into compositional frameworks. "The score looks complicated but I'm not doing it to be clever, I want the phrase finish, or start, or repeat, to let the instruments speak." She thinks in terms of unfinished sentences, false starts and repetition, using time signatures and other devices inspired by baroque music to make the instruments and ensembles she works with dance. "I approach instruments lyrically, thinking about the meaning of what's being said," she explains. "I need to hear an instrument speaking. I'm always thinking about this as I write music."

Core to her sound is the rhythm of her compositions. "I need to be able to dance to all my music," says Angèle. She has been deeply influenced by the baroque music she has loved since she was a child, particularly early music written for dancers, the complex patterns of interlocking meters. "I need rhythm, but a rhythm that feels unsettled, even if you don't always notice immediately" she says. "Ultimately, I want my music to be saying something."