Phoebe Killdeer is an Australian musician and the lead singer of the groups Phoebe Killdeer & the Short Straws and Phoebe Killdeer & the Shift. She is best known for her song "The Fade Out Line", which became a major international hit in 2014 when a reworked version of it was released by the deep house producer The Avener retitled as "Fade Out Lines".
Life and career
Killdeer became known performing with the French new wavecovers bandNouvelle Vague. She appears on their second album, Bande à Part, and she also toured with the group. She also features on the Basement Jaxx song "Tonight", on their album Kish Kash, and on the Zero dBtrack "Sunshine Lazy", on the albumBongos, Bleeps and Basslines. Following her work with Nouvelle Vague, Killdeer went on to pursue a solo career, forming the bandThe Short Straws, and releasing her first album, Weather's Coming, in 2008. Killdeer's second album with the group, Innerquake, was released in 2011. Killdeer's musical style is influenced by Tom Waits and by 1960s rock and blues; her voice has been compared to that of Peggy Lee and of PJ Harvey. A song from the second album, "The Fade Out Line", was subsequently reworked by the French deep house producer The Avener. It was released in September 2014 under the slightly altered title, "Fade Out Lines". The song charted in several countries, reaching number one in Germany, Spain, and Austria, and reaching number 3 in France, and number 6 in Italy. Killdeer later moved to Berlin where she began a new project, Phoebe Killdeer & the Shift, featuring Thomas Mahmoud-Zahl and Ole Wulfers. Their first album, The Piano's Playing the Devil's Tune, is an experimental collaboration with the Portuguese actress and singer Maria de Medeiros. The album was released on the Leipzig-based label Altin Village & Mine.
Discography
;Phoebe Killdeer & the Short Straws
Weather's Coming
Innerquake
;Phoebe Killdeer & the Shift
The Piano's Playing the Devil's Tune – with Maria de Medeiros