Her

Crafting seductive R&B that homes in on the simplest -- and most mysterious -- aspects of desire, Nantes, France's Her is the project of Simon Carpentier and Victor Solf. The pair met in high school, where Solf, a German native, was in choir and played classical piano and Carpentier played saxophone. Prior to forming Her, they played in another group that achieved some success in Europe before disbanding. Solf and Carpentier then took their music in a very different direction, borrowing inspiration from sounds ranging from Motown to Kendrick Lamar. They spent two years writing and recording 20 songs before releasing Her's debut single, "Quite Like," in April 2015. The song's smooth sound and erotically charged video quickly gained the duo a following, and paved the way for 2016's Her Tape #1 EP (one of its songs, "Five Minutes," appeared in Apple's "Shot on iPhone" ad campaign). In 2017, Carpentier and Solf returned with Her Tape #2, a set of songs exploring feminism and relationships. Her's self-titled debut full-length arrived in 2018. ~ Heather Phares