Music has never just been sound. But lately, it feels more essential than ever — shaping how we dress, move, and feel as it becomes more deeply woven into culture. Albums set the mood of the moment. Songs become stand-ins for memories. Music isn’t something we glaze over anymore, but rather, something we move through. “It’s a core sensory experience,” says Bec Adams, founder of Les Filles, the female-only talent agency helping brands bring music to the fore of what they do.

Charli XCX’s Brat is a recent case in point with its messy, deliberate, hyper-specific sound that quickly became ubiquitous. The album styled an entire summer, and that kind of cultural stickiness doesn’t happen by accident. It’s exactly this space that Adams has been working in for years, long before “sonic branding” became a trending buzzword.

Adams launched Les Filles in 2018 with the simple, sharp idea that music should be central to a brand’s identity, not an afterthought. Since then, the agency has grown from a tight-knit roster of DJs and curators into a key cultural player, building sound worlds for CHANEL, Saint Laurent, Nike, and Netflix. If branding is about emotional connection, according to Adams, music is the direct line.

Originally a lawyer in Australia, Adams moved into DJing, then into strategy, after noticing that so many brands had nailed how they looked, but not how they sounded. Les Filles became her way of closing that loop and treating music as a strategy, not just decoration. Now based between New York and Los Angeles, Adams is part of a new guard thinking more deeply about what we hear and why it matters. Her talent stretches music into the realms of fashion, film, and design, always with a focus on building layered musical experiences that stay with you.

Below, we speak with Bec Adams about growing up with sound in nature, how cities shape her creative process, and why music is the next great frontier in branding.

Nature heightens all your senses and nurtures each one of them. I think my upbringing enabled my ability to rely on how things feel when we stop, listen and connect with all that is around us. This shaped and heightened my hearing, as I was always curious of what things felt like from how they sounded, and how harmoniously things came together to create a feeling.

In turn, it has been a similar influence on the trajectory of Les Filles. Nothing has been forced. It has been built holistically. I think my upbringing in nature allowed for this type of growth, as we are not afraid to spread into new areas and fit within new spaces, which is simultaneous to nature's growth.

There is always a different energy in each. And every energy requires a different type of frequency to help shape it. In LA, we are more laid back, which allows for introspection and reflection. In NYC, we are moving and doing, creating the new and the next of culture.

Being in both installs a beautiful span of music, as there are different sparks of ideas for each area I move within. Each client at Les Filles requires a different understanding of what they sound like. Being amongst both cities helps broaden that understanding and help shape the sonic direction of what is needed.

There are two moral compass codes that we rely on at Les Filles: Females in music and integrity of music. The company started through the lack of females working behind the scenes, and a lack of respect to be of creative excellence without having popularity or beauty.

At the time, it was apparent brands did not understand how to use sound as a key source for branding and use music and its power to build culture and identity when used wisely. Les Filles was born to answer both narratives.

We start by thinking about the music messaging of the brand. We know what these brands look like, smell like, even taste like —but what do they sound like? We answer this question and define how they sound.
Brands have mastered consistency through design, photography, and campaigns, where sonic cohesion remains untapped. Music is one of the most powerful tools to build emotion, identity, and culture, yet across most platforms — from in-store to runway, from Instagram to events — many brands suffer from a fragmented sonic experience. We align this all for each unique brand to curate strong sonic messaging.

They cohesively always interact with one another as they both exist to create a feeling.
It is the most enriching task to help define what a brand or collection feels like by adding the sonic component to shape it, as creative directors and designers want to express a feeling with their designs, we add in the sonic ingredient to help install that feeling.

Currently we are seeing something interesting happen where music is shaping the way fashion brands are creating, with the music culture driving a feeling and brands creating pieces based on that. Think what happened with BRAT summer piloting in John Galliano 90s style fashion.

Music supervision is an area we are growing into at Les Filles, and in my personal work too. Curating the soundtracks to our favorite movies and television shows brings that certain génésique to the experience. It is a treat to be part of these features and to grow into new areas alongside the company's evolution—especially as we expand into sourcing music for brand campaigns and more.

Are there any emerging artists you're particularly excited about right now?

There are a few! We are working on an exciting project that we are hoping to have to your ears by the Fall with Zuri Marley. I am also excited about my friend Oxis - she is pure genius and has a certain Fred Again meets Vegyn nuance to her work that has her latest album on repeat on my speakers!