It isn’t often that you hear of a pop star on the rise who is simultaneously pursuing a career in the spotlight and a master’s degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne, and yet Petite Meller is doing exactly that. Ambiguous in age and willfully obtuse when you try and pry, here is a Londoner (via Paris and New York), who is equal parts afro-electro chanteuse and psychoanalytic, post-structural Dionysian. Add the Godard inspired music videos, like recent single “Backpack,” plus a Lolita aesthetic to the mix, and the result is both painfully chic, and almost unbearably French. Her album will drop soon and the latest single is pretty damn good. Possibly better than Gaga. Pop at its best: