Amb can’t have a monopoly on cheekbone-related captions, can she?
It’s no surprise that Finnish people (or more accurately, Finnish person) play a major role in this blog, and when you throw in Frenchness, that’s a force to be reckoned with. That’s the case with today’s profiled personage, Olivia Bouyssou Merilahti.
A name like that can only exist due to cross-cultural creative awesomeness, and Ms. Merilahti has that in spades. She’s the frontwoman for the French-English indie pop band The Dø, the newest addition to our copy paste gang, and a pretty delightful crew of ditty-makers.
It should come as no surprise that Arto introduced me to this band and their magnificent first single, “On My Shoulders,” where Olivia sings in a wistful high-pitched voice about the perils of a one-sided relationship.
The band went on to accomplish significant (if highly technicality-ridden) things like becoming the first “French act singing in English” to reach #1 on the French charts when their debut album A Mouthful achieved that ranking. It was a significant achievement for Merilahti, who has frequently been compared to Björk, whom she cites as a major influence.
… and rightfully so…
The Dø was founded after Bouyssou Merilahti met Dan Levy while recording music for the French film Empire of Wolves, and began collaborating soon thereafter. They then wrote a three song EP for Finnish choreographer Juha-Pekka Marsal, and saw one of their songs used in an Oxford Notepads commercial; the pinnacle of artistic achievement.
Just to prove that awesome names and awesomeness often go together, they decided to follow up On My Shoulders with their second single, At Last, which was directed by a Belgian choreographer with the name…
wait for it…
wait for it…
Wim Vandekeybus
Can you imagine that?!? A guy with the first name Wim?!?
Then, in a feat of true funny-named brilliance, they had “Too Insistent” (the lead single off their second album Both Ways Open Jaws) remixed by a Danish artist named Anders Trentemøller, and the result was their most successful single to date:
The list of funny names could gø on førever, so I think I shøuld støp nøw. Enjoy the wonderful vocal stylings of Olivia Bouyssou Merilahti and The Dø, and Happy Monday!
The Blog of Funny Names 
odd odd odd vocal stylings
Very, but hard to get out of your head once they’re in there!
I like it! Interesting band. And the Lotte Lenya vibe is very strøng in this øne.
You certainly weren’t just on a Wim when you put this one together! You really Dø your homework! And that was a nice Finnish the way you wrapped it up!
Haha, Diddy wins the pun award for today! Very impressive.
And yes, very interesting band. It’s always nice to hear something a bit different.
do you think wim wears a ‘do it on a wim’ t-shirt to the bars when trying to score a ‘date’?
Hahaha! I really hope so!
Mr Vandekeybus certainly shoots right up there in my list of favorite Wims alongside Wim Wenders and Wim Jonk. Whole lotta Wims out there.
There’s no “alongside.” Vandekeybus takes the cake! 🙂
Cake, did someone say cake? Where’s the cake?
(On another music-related note: What if we were enjoying cake while listening to Cake tunes?)
I don’t know about the first two questions, but the third one I can answer: it would be splendid!!!!!!
You’ve made a fan of me–liking her music very much. Could go on about all the wimming puns here in the comment section, but would rather just sit back and appreciate. Fun read, all! Off to buy me un or deux or maybe even trois Dø tunes.
They’re pretty cool, aren’t they? Definitely not your usual radio fare, yet still very listenable and enjoyable!