New York, NY (Top40 Charts) French songstress
Pauline Andres is one of the serious names currently emerging from the European Americana scene. She�s just started to make a name for herself with a sweet and smoky voice that perfectly conveys the thoughts and observations of an old soul walking home at closing time. Her timbre combined with razor sharp lyrics reveal true wisdom, a gift she probably gained through her many lives. Still in her 20�s, she�s lived in Paris, London, Berlin, travelled the world by car and train, she survived life-threatening diseases, late night fights and all kinds of heartbreaks.
In 2012, she settled down in Berlin for the cheap rent and tolerant neighbors, and quickly formed a band to tour the smoky bars in town. That�s how the self-taught singer-songwriter met Jack Davis, a multi-instrumentalist from South Carolina who shared her love for
Lucinda Williams and Merle Haggard. Davis produced the almost accidental EP Fuck You French Girl, the whisky-drenched seed for her debut album All Them
Ghosts (2014). This dark and haunting collection of songs like memories of her coal miner�s hometown, foreign heritage and family history was warmly received on the international scene and helped her build a solid reputation as a songwriter and performer. After touring
Europe to support the album, she returned to the studio without taking the smallest break, even though she was struggling with serious health problems, to start working on her new record The
Heart Breaks. This time she produced the entire project alone. To make it happen, she dropped everything she had including her daytime job and flat and coordinated a team of musicians based in Nashville, New York, Turin,
Boston and Berlin to get the sounds she needed. On these new songs, Andres took both her singing and writing in a whole new direction, revealing a more fragile side that could have hardly been suspected on her previous works.
The result is a colourful record where Mexican trumpets meet vibrant Nashville pedal steel parts. There are echoes of All Them
Ghosts when the accordion and distant melodica kick in to remind us of Andres� Eastern heritage. And all the while Davis� powerful guitar riffs continue to support her signature vocals. But the stories on this new record are more approachable. The screen of smoke is thinner and the narratives generally clearer. You could say that her debut album was recorded on whisky and cigarettes while The
Heart Breaks was made on coffee and codeine.
"Broken Record," the opening song, is a sweet ballad and a tribute to the old time country outlaws Andres still rocks herself to sleep to like Van Zandt or Guy Clark while "The East In Me" is a most honest self-portrait and an ode to her working class hometown. Most other songs like "Broken Hearted" and "Drive Like Steve McQueen" tell the story of the difficult break up she went through between both productions. But there are many more hidden references, subtleties and shades of blue to be found in the layers of lyrics that are only simple in appearance.
She�ll support the release of The
Heart Breaks with several live shows in Berlin and will tour
Europe with her band from the Spring. She�s also already planning the recording of her 3rd LP, one that she announces to be even darker than the first, much heavier than the second and largely inspired by the current social and international events: religion, terrorism and Western decay.
The only question still open for the prolific writer is where to produce this next piece. After travelling the world from Paris to California, from London to Hanoi, the restless poet has never been able to call any one place home.
The
Heart Breaks
Release Date: April 15, 2016
Tracklisting:
Broken Record
No Tienes Coraz�n
Drive Like Steve McQueen
Broken Hearted
The East In Me
If Only You Had Called
Muddy Waters
If It's Over
A Reason To Come Home
Men & The Women Who Stay With Them
All The Way Home
Salt & Sugar
