HALO MAUDHALO MAUD
Having been introduced in 2015
by La Souterraine, a collective who
promote up-and-coming French
talent, we’re finally catching up
with those who think that singer-
songwriter / multi-instrumentalist
Halo Maud is the real deal.
“Julien Gasc, who released two
records under his name and also
plays in this amazing band called
Aquaserge, sent my first songs
to La Souterraine, “ she explains.
“At that time I was not planning
to release anything, I guess I was
waiting for a sign from heavens. It
happened and I finally realized I
just wanted to record more songs
and play shows.”
Growing up among the forests
and boulders of the Auvergne
region of France has clearly had
a huge influence on her creative
process. “I grew up in a region of
mountains where there is lots of
forest, heather and some lichen on
the rocks,” says Maud. “It gave me
the sense of observation, a taste
for contemplation. I think I am
looking for similar things in music
and in a landscape: relief, nuances,
several levels of spaciality.”
If you listen closely you can
hear it in her transfixing soft
psychedelia, such as recent single
Baptism which is reminiscent of
the starry-eyed work of Emiliana
Torrini. “I rarely know where I
am going when I start composing a
new song,” she says. “Sometimes I
just keep in mind a vague direction
or idea like ‘the bridge will lead
to another space, brighter, with
a glimpse of hope.’ Then I start
singing over the first chords and
the voice decides where it is going
t o g o .”
With a debut album due out in
the spring and a tour supporting
Baxter Dury in February and
March, 2018 could be the year that
she goes global.
INTRODUCING...
“I rarely know where I
am going when I start
composing a new song”
Name: Halo Maud
Age: 32
Location: Paris
Style: Hazy psychedelic pop
Look out for: Single Baptism
Web: halo.maud.bandcamp.com
A French singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has already made a splash in her home country
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Duncan Haskell