“Record Stache write up!”
Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter/actress Dianna St. Hilaire, otherwise known as Oparu, combines futuristic electronic music with classical symphonic style to create ethereal reveries with a shadowy undertow that are graced by her operatic vocals.
St. Hilaire began her musical journey at a young age, writing and performing compositions in choirs and musicals. She is self-taught on piano and songwriting and put her skills to the test in her late teens, working in punk bands and for producers as a back-up and studio vocalist.
She took on the moniker Versailles and began a partnership with the infamous Kim Fowley (The Runaways, KISS, Alice Cooper), touring the US, featuring on official Grammy Awards ballots, and charting on Billboard. Versailles was a success with popular radio stations across the US, including KROQ and NPR-tastemaker KCRW, broadcasting her songs.
In 2015 St. Hilaire decided to change tack with music project Oparu, which takes its name from the Japanese word for the birthstone opal. With Oparu, St. Hilaire experiments with the electronic, ‘80s synth-pop, and alternative genres.
St. Hilaire’s debut single as Oparu, “Remember Me”, is a reflective ballad driven by her beseeching, operatic vocals, drawn out symphonic strings, and contemplative piano notes. Against the measured tempo and hazily reverberating percussion she airily sighs, “Close your eyes / Take these memories inside / Keep them alive…”
Written by: Jen Dan