New York, NY (Top40 Charts ) Belgian songstress Melanie De Biasio recently released her latest album No Deal in the US following its tremendous success across Europe. With her semi-improvised, dark, minimalist approach, she's been called the "Belgian Billie Holiday" and also drawn comparisons to
Nina Simone among many others. Known for her captivating live shows, Melanie released a video of her stunning performance of "With All My Love" from Ghent Jazz Festival, premiering exclusively on Wondering Sound this week.
"Each concert is unique, éphémère. I change the set list every day, and the set list is in fact cues to rythme the show," said De Biasio. "The light engineer improvises at the same time as our improv build up, which creates an improvised show and something very natural and organic." Melanie continued, saying "That requires all our substance, engagement, and feeling, but that's the challenge! 'With All My Love' was the last song of the concert, after a crazy double standing ovation."
Initially heralded as a new voice in jazz with her debut album A Stomach is Burning, Melanie's sophomore effort should appeal to fans of late-period Talk Talk, who's Mark Hollis is a huge figure for De Biasio. She also cites Frank Zappa and
Pink Floyd as formative influences, plus
Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln, two icons of the civic rights fight and spokeswomen of an aggressive jazz stripped of any affectation.
Since the release of No Deal, it has received much critical acclaim across
Europe and the US including praises from The Guardian, BBC, MOJO Magazine, LA Times, MTV Iggy, Q Magazine, KCRW, and Jazziz Magazine where it was called "seductive in a cinematic kind of way," describing her voice as containing "a dark-hued sultriness underscored with an air of longing. Songs like 'The Flow' could fit in on the soundtrack to a
David Lynch movie."
Melanie was also featured on KCRW's "Rhythm Planet" last week where host Tom Schnabel stated that "Her music is dark and moody, the piano chords are spare, drumming is minimal. She daringly covers Nina Simone, something that would scare away most singers, but she delivers beautifully; she does Nina proud."
No Deal Track List:
1) I Feel You
2) The Flow
3) No Deal
4) With Love
5) Sweet Darling Pain
6) I'm Gonna Leave You
7) With All My Love.
