Known worldwide as the voice of Nouvelle Vague, Pain initially found fame singing Bossa Nova versions of new wave classics such as Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve), This Is Not A Love Song and Teenage Kicks with the French group. She has also pursued a solo career blending French and English pop and folk. Following ‘After My Name’ (2009), ‘Bye Bye Manchester’ (2012) and ‘Parachute’ (2016), she released her latest solo album ‘How and Why’, an intimate collection of folk songs, last November.

An iconic voice of Nouvelle Vague for 20 years, Mélanie Pain continues her singular solo journey through pop, folk, and intimate poetry. After three critically acclaimed albums celebrated for their delicacy, she returns with ‘How and Why’, a fourth luminous and stripped-back record. Raw folk, centered on acoustic guitar, without artifice and that unique voice: soft, deep, and elegant. Recorded live with her longtime bandmates, the album draws inspiration from Kings of Convenience, Iron & Wine, and Emilíana Torrini.

Nine English-language tracks explore emotion, melancholy, and rebirth, featuring a hypnotic duet with Calexico’s Brian Lopez (who will join Pain on this tour) and a sensual cover of Duman sung in Turkish.

Dreamloop, a standout track from the album, has been released as a single and captures the helplessness of witnessing a loved one’s suffering, that sense of standing by, powerless, as they drift silently – trapped in an endless dream, a true “dream loop”. Pain’s voice, always soft and precise, takes on an incantatory quality. The chorus serves as a call to the surface, a glimmer of light in the fog.

Mélanie Pain plays The Ropetackle Centre, Shoreham-by-Sea on Wednesday 11th February.

Tickets and further information are available online here.