Vanessa and the O's formed in 2003/2004 when Vanessa Contenay-Quinones got together with Swedes Andreas Mattson (Popsicle) and Niclas Frisk (Atomic Swing) later joining up with James Iha (former guitarist and co-founding member of The Smashing Pumpkins) in New York in 2003.
They recorded the album La Ballade d'O over the next 18 months or so. Quinones also went into the studio with Lou Reed around this time and cut an Anglo/French version of "Sunday Morning" while also working on new songs with Frisk and Mattson. The album was finally finished in 2005 when Pelle Gunnerfeldt (The Hives) was brought in to play bass and take on final mixes, bringing in Per Nordmark on drums and Bjorn Ytlling [Peter Bjorn & John] for additional keyboards. The self financed album was licensed initially to Virgin/EMI Sweden May 25th 2005. The band played their first live dates in Sweden on the 13/14/15/16th of July 2005. In September the imported album was 'Album Of The Week' in influential British record store Rough Trade who described it as "...a fantastic album of ‘european cool’ with breathy vocals over music which sounds like The Concretes, Stereolab or a modern take on the Velvet Underground…" In 2006 the band decided to forgo the major label rout and release the album on their own label Rushmore Recordings headed up by ex major A&R and Deaf School founder member Steve Allen. By summer 2007 the physical album was available in France, Japan, Thailand, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Denmark and SWEDEN earning great critical acclaim with a 'Disque Du Mois' from influential French rock mag 'Rock & Folk' and rave reviews from Les Inrockuptibles, Magic, Rolling Stone and Figaro. Also in 2006 Vanessa was invited to guest vocal on Scott Walker's album 'The Drift'. The O's played shows in Paris and London through 2006/2007 with appearances at Londons legendary Dublin Castle and Liverpool Carling Academy September '07. The album was also made available worldwide digitally. 2007 saw The O's invited to participate in the all star musical tribute to legendary composer Ennio Morricone alongside Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, YoYoMa, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and the Maestro himself. 'We All Love Ennio Morricone' features Vanessa's gorgeous rendition of the Francoise Hardy classic 'Je Changerais d'Avis'.
