Aidan Curran posted on February 23, 2009 18:00
There’s a swell of interest building in Paris music circles about a young piano-playing singer-songer who’s breathing new life into a classic French genre.
Maud Lübeck (right) is the lady in question. A prolific musician and film-maker, she has already recorded two albums under the pseudonym Emma Udé (the French pronunciation of the letters M-A-U-D) and made several short films. Now she’s gaining rave reviews for songs that she has posted on the internet under her own name.
Lübeck plays melancholic piano songs that almost burst with quiet intensity and simmering emotion. Our French and Francophile readers will immediately think of Barbara, the ‘60s icon of dramatic French cabaret pop. She also has a lot in common with the darker parts of Emily Loizeau’s wonderful 2006 album ‘À L’Autre Bout Du Monde’. Like both those ladies, Lübeck has a keen ear for a good tune and is careful not to let her songs get smothered by cheap sentiment – every note and feeling rings true. She’s Maud, not maudlin.
She was caught on radar near the end of last year when she duetted with Vincent Delerm, star of the chanson française scene, on a track called ‘Je T’Aimais Trop’ (“I love you too much”). Your blogger is normally allergic to the bland, tuneless Delerm, but his duet with Lübeck is really very good and if it brings attention to her then so much the better.
Since the start of this year, French music blogs have been buzzing with excitement about Lübeck, and influential magazine Les Inrockuptibles has raved about her. Such is her low profile that no one seems sure if she’s going to release an album; we know that she’s not signed to a record label.
And just to add to the frenzy around her, Lübeck's upcoming shows in Paris and Lyon are part of a children's charity - and the concerts are for kids only. Already, French music fans are scrambling to find a young niece or nephew who'll gain them admittance to the hottest shows in the country right now.
You can hear those marvellous tunes on Maud Lübeck’s MySpace page. Our favourite is ‘Le Parapluie’ (“the umbrella”), but every track we’ve heard from her has been memorable. Here’s a video she made for one of her older songs, ‘Egg Oeil’:
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