Stephan Eicher

Born near Bern in 1960, Stephan Eicher developed an early interest in punk and new wave before turning to chanson. Initially active with the Swiss group Grauzone in the early 1980s in a minimalist, electronic style, he then launched a solo career, releasing Les Chansons bleues in 1983 and I Tell This Night in 1985, blending English, German and French. With Silence in 1987 and especially Engelberg (1991) and Carcassonne (1993), Stephan Eicher secured a lasting place in the francophone chanson landscape by pairing melancholic songwriting with pop, rock and folk arrangements. His long-term collaboration with the writer Philippe Djian, who provided many lyrics from the late 1980s onwards, shapes much of his repertoire. Across albums from Taxi Europa (2003) to Eldorado (2007), L’Envolée (2012) and Homeless Songs (2019), Eicher alternates intimate songs, broader orchestrations and forays into pop with electronic touches. Singing in French, German, English and Swiss German, and often surrounded by musicians from the European rock and jazz scenes, he has built a body of work in which the singer-songwriter tradition meets diverse influences from acoustic folk to contemporary pop, both on stage and in the studio.