Eleanor Friedberger

While Eleanor Friedberger first came to fame as the primary voice of the indie rock band The Fiery Furnaces, alongside her older brother Matthew, she went on to forge a successful career as a musician in her own right. Friedberger's solo albums were considerably different from the sometimes "difficult" ones that brought her to prominence. The Fiery Furnaces were known for their restless sonic experimentation and mixed garage rock elements with psychedelia, prog and synth pop: they even recorded a concept album about their own grandmother, Rehearsing My Choir (2005), which even fans of the group found challenging. However, Friedberger's solo records such as Last Summer (2011) and New View (2016) mined a more accessible vein of retro-styled pop that brought her a new following without alienating longtime enthusiasts. She even inspired a much-loved song about her, "Eleanor Put Your Boots On," by the Scottish indie group Franz Ferdinand, whose leader Alex Kapronos was dating her at the time the song was written.