Viviane Katrina Louise Albertine is an Australian-born British musician, singer, songwriter and writer. She is best known as the guitarist for the punk band the Slits from 1977 until 1982, with whom she recorded two studio albums. Prior to joining the Slits, Albertine was a member of the Flowers of Romance. Following the Slits' break-up in 1982, Albertine studied filmmaking and subsequently worked as a freelance director for the BBC and British Film Institute. After a lengthy break from performing and recording music, Albertine released her sole solo studio album, The Vermilion Border, in 2012. Albertine's first autobiography, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys, was released in 2014 to widespread critical acclaim. A follow-up focusing on her family, To Throw Away Unopened, was released in 2018.
Albertine was amongst the first "inner circle" fans of the Sex Pistols, and was a close friend of both Mick Jones and Joe Strummer of the Clash. In 1976, she helped form the Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious. She joined the Slits as the band's guitarist after founding member Kate Korus left. Hesitant to join an all female band she changed her mind after her friend Chrissie Hynde told her to "Shut up and get on with it." The Clash's 1979 song "Train in Vain" has been interpreted by some as a response to "Typical Girls" by the Slits, which mentions girls standing by their men. Albertine split up with songwriter Mick Jones shortly before he wrote the song. While continuing as a key member of the Slits, Albertine contributed guitar and vocal work to the 49 Americans' 1980 album E Pluribus Unum. She became part of Adrian Sherwood's dub-influenced collective New Age Steppers, and played on their self-titled 1981 debut album. She appeared as a guest guitarist on the Flying Lizards' debut album, as well as Singers & Players' 1982 album Revenge of the Underdog. In 2009, Albertine began performing as a solo artist. Her debut gig was at the Windmill in Brixton on 20 September 2009. She went on to tour the USA, opening for the Raincoats. In March 2010 she released a four-song debut solo EP entitled Flesh on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label. Albertine recorded a cover version of David Bowie's "Letter to Hermione" for the Bowie tribute album which was released on 6 September 2010. Her debut solo album, The Vermilion Border, was released on 5 November 2012 through the Cadiz Music label. The album was a featured project on Pledgemusic. On 17 June 2013, she opened for Siouxsie Sioux at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Following the death of her mother in 2014, Albertine stepped away from music: "I’m just not interested in playing any more. I came to that decision the night my mum died. I don’t worship musicians. I don’t worship rock’n’roll. I don’t miss it. I see music as a vehicle like writing or film-making, but I don’t think it’s a very relevant medium for me at the moment."
Film and television career
After the Slits disbanded in 1982, Albertine studied filmmaking in London. She worked as a director, mostly for television, throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s. Her freelance directing work included stints with the BBC and the British Film Institute. In 1991, Albertine wrote and directed the short filmCoping with Cupid, a film about three aliens as blondes that come to earth to research romantic love. In 2010, she worked with Joanna Hogg on the soundtrack to Hogg's 2010 film Archipelago. In 2013, Albertine starred in Hogg's 2013 film Exhibition, alongside Tom Hiddleston and Liam Gillick. The film premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in August 2013, and was released on DVD in 2014.
Writing
Albertine's memoir, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys, was published in 2014 in the UK by Faber and Faber and in the US by Thomas Dunne Books. It was a Sunday Times, Mojo, Rough Trade and NME Book of the Year in 2014, as well as being shortlisted for the National Book Awards. In 2019, The New York Times named the memoir among "The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years". Her second memoir To Throw Away Unopened was published by Faber and Faber in May 2018. The book describes the extraordinarily complex relationship between Albertine and her mother. The title is taken from a note pinned to a bag left behind by her mother after her death. Albertine admits she viewed this as "a provocation", and felt that her mother expected her to look inside: The contents turned out to be intensely personal diaries, which Albertine read in full, and ultimately incorporated into her own memoir.
Personal life
Albertine married illustrator Simon Critchley in approximately 1993 and divorced in 2010. Albertine currently lives in Hackney, London.
