Jihae gives her music a kick, launches Kickstarter campaign today (videos)

New project gives Fans a chance to support the sultry singer for as little as $1

Jihae, the Seoul, South Korea, -born Renaissance woman has shifted the spotlight back onto her musical career.

Jihae performs at the Mercury Lounge in 2012. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)

Best known to many as one of the distinctive faces of the Eileen Fisher fashion line, the mononymic Jihae (full name: Jihae Kim), has for years worked as a singer, multi-instrumentalist and operator of a small indie music label, Septem.

Her performance style is slinky, sexy and mysterious, with overtones of earthiness signaled by her penchant for leather biker jackets.

This morning she launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund completion of her 4th album, Illusion of You, and the tour to support it.

Project involves Dave Stewart, Leonard Cohen, more

Dave Stewart of Eurythmics is the executive producer, plays on several tracks and makes a guest appearance in the Kickstarter video. He says Jihae’s latest work “reminds me of something like [David] Bowie whispering secrets to the Velvet Underground.”

The album, due out in January if this campaign goes well, features a song co-written by Jihae, Stewart and the venerable Leonard Cohen. Jihae’s press kit calls that track, titled “It Just Feels,”  an “epic orgasm-themed song.”

Jihae performs at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Jean-Luc Sinclair co-produced with album with Jihae. The LA-based band Nightmare and the Cat, fronted by Stewart’s sons, Django and Sam Stewart, also perform.

While this is not a from-the-ground-up project, it’s still away for fans to feel like they played a role in making the project happen. The album may be more or less in the can, but there’s still a lot of tweaking and final production to do (and pay for), along with promotional and tour costs.

The basic Kickstarter rewards amount to a preorder of the album and related merchandise. But if you’re feeling flush, you can pledge $1,200 for the opportunity to record a duet with Jihae in an NYC studio.

Or, for $1,270, you get a women’s leather jacket designed by Jihae. (She’s launching a line of leather jackets as a tie-in with the album, offering a download with each jacket and CDs for sale in retail stores carrying the line.)

For superfans, she’ll do an acoustic house concert for $5,000 or a plugged-in gig at a public venue for $10,000.

So why not get in on the ground floor of this opportunity to support an important artist.

If you’re not familiar with her work, here’s a video of the album’s title track: