Biography
Bloem de Wilde de Ligny (born 7 July 1978) is a Dutch singer-songwriter, producer, visual artist and musician based in the United Kingdom. De Ligny has released music as a solo artist and as a member of various bands, including Fono & Serafina, Polichinelle, 4Fists, and Sam and the Womp. Her image and vocal style have often been compared to Björk.
She has also performed under the names Bloem, Bloem de Wilde de Ligny, Serafina Ouistiti, Oo is an Instrument, Lady Oo, Bloom and, most recently, Bloom de Wilde.
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Bloem (meaning “flower” in Dutch) de Wilde de Ligny was born to a Dutch-Indonesian father and a Dutch mother. Her father orchestrated in gamelan. The family moved twenty times before settling in Haarlem.
After leaving school, she moved into a squat. From 1996, she began performing music under the name Bloem, appearing on the festival circuit at Oerol, Lowlands and Crossing Border.
De Ligny's festival performances brought her to the attention of the record company Columbia Records. In November 1998, under the name Bloem de Ligny, she released the album Zink. It was produced by Pete Briquette, a Tricky associate and former guitarist for The Boomtown Rats. The album also featured contributions from musician Maarten Veldhuis. It was recorded at Townhouse Studios in London. The album's title derives from de Ligny's name for her own fantasy sea.
The record company had high expectations for the album, which generally received positive reviews. Many reviewers compared her vocal style to that of Icelandic artist Björk, although de Ligny has cited Robert Wyatt as a greater influence.
The single “Fingiecrookie” was released from the album, and its accompanying music video received airplay on several music television channels. However, album sales were disappointing, and de Ligny parted company with the record label.
She later moved to Paris for several months and, in early 2000, studied fine art in Rotterdam.
In 2002, de Ligny made a guest appearance on the album We Should Have Been Stars by the band Mist. She collaborated with the band again on their 2008 album Period. Also in 2002, she formed the ambient pop band Fono and Serafina with Ties van der Linden. Their only album, Bathtub, was released in 2006. Around this time, de Ligny began performing under the stage name Serafina Ouistiti. She subsequently attended the Willem de Kooning Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam, graduating in 2007.
In 2005, she formed the band Polichinelle with the artist Bubu. They performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007. In 2007, de Ligny co-founded the surrealist art collective Dream Society with Bubu and artist Kai Nobuko. The collective produced animations, songs, films and art installations based on sounds and images from everyday life. De Ligny performs with the Society under the name Oo is an Instrument.
Having lived in London since 2003, she was involved in founding Gattoblaster Records. She has also performed in the bands 4Fists and QDOS vs. Audio.
In 2009, de Ligny joined Sam and the Womp as vocalist. In 2012, the band's debut single, “Bom Bom”, reached number one in the UK. The band released its second single, “Ravo”, in 2013.
In 2014, de Ligny launched her new solo project, Bloom, and released her first single under that name, “Animal Spirit”. This was followed by “Pale Moon Golden Light” in the same year and “The World for You” in 2015.
In 2015, de Ligny founded Womp Records Ltd with her Sam and the Womp bandmate Sam Ritchie to release the band's single “Zeppelin”. Kaleidophone, de Ligny's second studio album and her first since Zink, was released in 2019.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.