Jil Caplan (born Valentine, on October 20, 1965) is a French singer and songwriter.
She studied modern literature at the Sorbonne and theatre at the Cours Florent, where she met Jay Alanski, producer and composer of the most influential pop songs of the 1980s. In August 1986, she met her friends Les Innocents, then unknown by the general public, in a recording studio, where the group recorded their first single "Jodie", under the leadership of Alanski.
Immediately, Alanski was charmed by the girl and then offered her to sing. Caplan accepted, and that was what leads her first album À peine 21[1]. They produced three albums together. They realized most of the videoclips, as well as CDs covers, drew a world very singular and faithful to Caplan. The public was also won over by the young woman who has an androgynous voice, heavily influenced by Tracey Thorn.
In 1992, Jil Caplan won a Victoire de la Musique for Female revelation of the year[1]. Then Alanski decided to turn to the electronic music. Caplan wrote her own songs then, and chose Jean-Philippe Nataf (ex-member of Les Innocents), one of her friend, to produce her album Toute crue (2001, Warner)[2]. Alongside her musical activities, Caplan, always fascinated by the image, produced and directed a film of 45 minutes for the group Lilicub. She also wrote articles for the independent magazine Brazil.
In 2004, she released Comme elle vient, a single made with another ex-member of Les Innocents, Jean-Christophe Urbain. Together they have made an acoustic tour until Burma.
In 2006, she directed the making-of of the recording of the French singer Patxi Garat's debut album (S'embrasser), directed by Jean-Christophe Urbain.
In 2004, after ten years of absence, Jil Caplan joined together again Jay Alanski. She wrote most of the text while he composed the whole of music of her seventh album entitled Derrière la porte. The first single was "Des toutes petites choses"[2]. Jil Caplan has been on tour since October 5, 2007, with 2 dates in Paris on October 11 & 12 at the Théâtre de l'Europe.
