Discover the French-born, Lisbon-based newcomer artist Marie Minet. It’s hard to believe that the encounter of a neophyte singer with an established, yet considerate musician could result in a genuinely interesting, different and sincerely passionate piece of collaboration. That’s exactly what happened when Marie spontaneously decided to sing on one of those nights in the Lisbon bar, Tejo Bar, breaking down the barriers between audience and stage. That completely unrehearsed, yet magical moment marked the beginning of an adventure that materialised into Clair-Obscur. Clair-Obscur is Marie’s debut album, which was produced by. Born in Bretagne in 1991, Marie studied management in Montpellier and Reims before moving to Paris, where she worked in sales and project management. Music has always been a huge part in her life though, being distantly related to the Norwegian composer Edward Grieg. A series of performances, accompanied by her brother on guitar, in Lisbon’s small bars awoke a musical passion that she never knew she had. This, as well as an inexplicable impulse for change, ended up bringing her to Lisbon. “I chose Alfama, I don’t even know why, but I felt at home as soon as I got there”, she admits. Drawing on the Morna tradition, the relationship between Marie and the words of Clair-Obscur is the culmination of a long tradition of harmonies between poetry and music. During this process, she ended up finding a way to leave the words right at the centre of her songs. Clair-Obscur is an album full of contradictions, made by a young French artist and a highly experienced Cape Verdean musician and composer. It’s an album which was born in a small Lisbon bar but has later been finished in a state of the art studio in Melides. The album brings across the feeling of having been created on a deserted island, with metropolitan themes running through it. A record of sweet, catchy melodies and deep words that seek their matter in life and love. A collection of travel songs that want to find a destination and a home.
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