In the spring of 2007, Johanna Wedin, the emblematic singer of the band Mai, tiptoed her way into Paris? music scene. Her first album ? Still Need a Kiss ?, labyrinthine and graceful, conveys its particular universe, free of din and raging guitars, a whisper swiftly amplifying around the band.
For the rest of the journey, launched with Dorian Dumont (The Teenagers), Johanna invited a new alter ego, Frederic Fortuny (Autour de Lucie, Brisa Roche), to join her on her frail skiff.
The following two years Mai spends measuring its melodies to the artistic dimensions of the stage. As a duo, or with the assistance of musicians, the polymorphous group scours the countryside and happily sways amongst underground clubs in Berlin or London, Swedish television sets and prestigious Parisian venues.
In the course of time and concerts, a new collection of songs arises: hatched backstage, shaped on stage and eventually polished in a recording studio in 2009.
As a prelude to their second album, Mai reveals the EP ? Silent Seduction ? this spring.
Closer to the realm of a Vashti Bunyan than to the current Scandinavian folk scene, these five songs, with their authentic tone and youthful candor, strongly restore Johanna?s musical obsessions while being reminiscent of the nature who watched her come to life, a few miles away from the polar circle.
In love with the past without being old-fashioned, like the quaint charm of Johanna?s stage outfits, Mai?s nostalgic resonances are in perfect harmony with her pure, crystalline voice.
C?est sur la pointe des pieds qu?au
printemps 2007, la Suedoise Johanna
Wedin, emblematique chanteuse du
projet Mai, arrive sur la scene musicale
parisienne. ? Still Need a Kiss ?,
premier album labyrinthique et
gracieux, impose son univers singulier
sans tapage, ni guitare rageuse, comme
le murmure, qui, autour du groupe,
s?amplifie rapidement.
Pour la suite du voyage, entame avec
Dorian Dumont (The Teenagers),
Johanna embarque sur son frele esquif
un nouvel alter ego, Frederic Fortuny
(Autour de Lucie, Brisa Roche).
Les deux annees suivantes, Mai les passe a frotter ses melodies aux exigences de la
scene. En duo, ou avec le concours d?autres musiciens, la formation polymorphe bat
la campagne, oscillant avec bonheur entre clubs underground berlinois et
prestigieuses salles parisiennes.
Ainsi s?elabore, au fil des mois et des concerts, une nouvelle collection de chansons :
imaginees en coulisses, faconnees sur scene, et enfin, ciselees en studio courant 2009.
En premisse a son second album, Mai devoile, ce printemps, le EP ? Silent
Seduction ?.
Plus proches de l?univers d?une Vashti Bunyan que de la scene folk scandinave
actuelle, ces cinq titres aux timbres organiques et a la candeur juvenile restituent avec
force les obsessions musicales de Johanna, en meme temps qu?ils evoquent la nature
qui l?a vue naitre, a quelques kilometres du cercle polaire.
Sans passeisme, mais par amour du passe, a l?image des tenues au charme suranne
qui habillent Johanna sur scene, leurs resonances nostalgiques s?accordent
magnifiquement a sa voix limpide.
- 2011
- 2010
