Class Actress
| Class Actress | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Elizabeth Vanessa Harper |
| Born | 1982/1983 (age 33–34) |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Synthpop |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | classactress |
Elizabeth Vanessa Harper (born 1982 or 1983), better known by her stage name Class Actress, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Class Actress was originally conceived as a trio, consisting of Harper, Mark Richardson, and Scott Rosenthal.
Harper majored in drama in college and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actress, but she was unable to make it work and soon found herself disillusioned by it. After relocating to Brooklyn, she decided to pursue a career in music instead. She formed Elizabeth Harper & the Matinee, and in 2004, Harper's self-titled debut solo album was released by UK label Angular Recording Corporation.
Harper later contacted Philadelphia-based producer Mark Richardson, who had remixed a song from her debut album. She preferred Richardson's version to the original, and the two began recording songs at her house, trading Harper's previous guitar-based sound for electronic music, which she had long been interested in exploring. Along with multi-instrumentalist and engineer Scott Rosenthal, Harper and Richardson formed Class Actress—the name being a joke on Harper's original career choice.
Class Actress released their debut extended play, Journal of Ardency, on February 9, 2010 on Terrible Records, which is run by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor.The New York Times described it as "an alluringly precise recapturing of the winning chill of early '80s electro-pop". The EP also drew comparisons to New Order, The Human League, and Depeche Mode, while Harper's vocals were likened to those of Blondie's Debbie Harry and Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell.
The trio's debut studio album, Rapprocher, was released on October 18, 2011 by Carpark Records. Harper stated that the title—which means "to come closer" in French—was inspired by "a French lover who broke [her] heart". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, obtaining a rating of 69 out of 100 based on 16 critics on review aggregate site Metacritic.AllMusic named it one of the best indie pop and rock albums of 2011.Rapprocher reached number 21 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart and number 27 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. The song "Keep You" was used in an episode of the fifth season of the teen drama television series Gossip Girl.
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