Jean Lorenzo, known as Silent EM, fell into his solo project by chance. He had played guitar and bass in post-punk and punk bands but in 2010 he found, upon his transition to a new city, that he could create music singularly with synthesizers and drum machines. His songs explore themes of disillusion, disappointment with religious views, war and lost love utopias. The influence of 1980s French coldwave and post-punk is apparent in his craft.