Karen Vogt is an Australian artist, vocalist and musician living in France. She uses her voice to create atmospheric, ambient and experimental compositions. She is mostly known for her distinctive vocals with dream-pop band Heligoland that she co-founded in 1999, produced by Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins). Heligoland have refined a distinctive sound and style awash with texture and emotion. Vogt’s soaring vocals have always been one of the most striking and memorable features of the band’s music.
Across all Vogt’s work, the common thread is her ability to convey and evoke a complex array of emotions. At times raw and arresting, at others gently introspective, Vogt’s vocals possess an undeniable and distinctive emotional charge. She has contributed guest vocals and collaborated with many artists (see music page) and moreso in recent years, as she has been able to devote more time to her solo music.
Her solo work moves between experimental, atmospheric, ambient and sometimes slowcore genres with much vocal and/or guitar improvisations being the heart of her main creative process. She releases much of her work independently through her Bandcamp and offers a subscription, but also has releases on the labels Superpang, Mare Nostrum, Waxing Crescent Records and the most recent on Penelope Trappes newly formed tape label Nite Hive with her new album Waterlog – an experiemtnal, improvised worked dedicated to her late cat Luis.
