Maïa Vidal can be an unpredictable whirlwind of musical styles and different cultures, but at 28-years-old and with 3 albums already under belt, she’s proved to be a prolific force to be reckoned with. Since her debut in 2011 that landed her an IMPALA award nomination for her album God Is My Bike, she has taken her eclectic blend of ever-evolving (but always catchy) indie-pop on the road; charming audiences from São Paolo to Tokyo, and from Barcelona to New York, as well as winning over brands such as DKNY, IKEA, and Desigual.

Though her 5-year career has taken her around the world and her sound has undergone some unexpected metamorphoses, 2015 was an especially exciting year for Maïa. She released on Crammed Discs, “The Tide EP” followed by her third full length album “You’re the Waves”, and not 1 but 3 lush, self-directed music videos. To top it all off, her name gained massive exposure when she wrote and recorded “Our Place”, a song featured in a short film and ad campaign for Estrella Damm, directed by Alejandro Amenabar and starring Dakota Johnson. It was the most watched Youtube video in Spain and the song has more than 1.5 million streams on Spotify.

She defines her sound as “Eclecto-Pop” (a catch-all genre that she made up); an intoxicating mess of influences that include folk, electro, world music, and jazz, but that all coalesce into a shimmery love-drunk pop. On stage, she’s known for her soul-sharing, high intensity, and truly devoted performance, and while much has been written about her infectious smile… mostly, she’s barefoot.



Facts

Maïa Vidal was born in the US, of French and Japanese/German parents. She grew up in the States, studied in Montreal, and is now sharing her time between Paris and Barcelona.

Her debut album God Is My Bike came out in Europe in November 2011. It was nominated for the IMPALA Awards (the pan-European, Indie Album of the Year award), alongside albums by Sigur Ros, Little Dragon and Adele.

After successfully translating her verbal imagery into visuals in her self-directed videos for tracks such as Poison and Alphabet of my Phobias, Maïa collaborated with director Joana Colomar to create a stunning video for Follow Me, loosely based on a Brothers Grimm tale. The video was nominated for Best Pop Video at the UK Music Video Awards (alongside videos by Lana del Rey, Rihanna and Justice). The video and the fan audio uploads of the song Follow Me have now garnered over one million views on YouTube.

Watch the videos HERE

Maïa has played shows all over Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Switerzland, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK etc), has also played in Japan, Brazil and Argentina, as well as the US, where God Is My Bike was released in October 2012, and appeared in the CMJ Top 200 radio charts.

God Is My Bike was Maïa Vidal’s second record, after Poison, a self-released EP she recorded under the name Your Kid Sister, which contained versions of punk anthems by Rancid transformed into haunting lullabies and plaintive waltzes, a homage to the songs Maïa loved as a teenager.

Maïa's second full-length was  Spaces ✩, an entrancing  album full of soaring melodies,La arresting lyrics, innovative compositions & daring production. 

You're The Waves, Maïa Vidal's third album in four years, came out at the end of 2015. It was produced by Maïa, co-produced by Giuliano Cobelli, and mixed by Brooklyn-based Swedish producer Van Rivers (of Fever Ray, Glasser, and Blonde Redhead fame).

Maïa Vidal's songs have keep proving to be eminently synch-able, as attested by their repeated uses in ad campaigns (DKNY, IKEA, Lactacyd, Desigual, Element), indie films and promos for fashion designers (such as young Spanish brand Siemprevivas, who have designed dresses for Michelle Obama and Anna Wintour). Maïa recently co-wrote and performed the song "Vale" for a short fiction film by acclaimed director Alejandro Amenábar, which is part of the new TV advertizing campaign for Estrella Damm.

From the press:

Armed with her distinct multilingual vocals and an array of instruments, Maïa Vidal crafts sweet and quirky pop-folk songs…. Quirky, yet accessible and playful songwriting (Aurgasm, US)
 
Both giddy and grandiose, God Is My Bike finds Vidal exercising all her options while staking out an expansive musical turf. She's not an easy artist to pin down, but her skill and savvy offer every indication all her future moves will be well worth watching. (Blurt, US)
 
Full of sweet, lilting melodies and charming lyrics, Maia Vidal's debut conjures up simple comparisons with the likes of Camille, Feist and Regina Spektor  (Buzz, UK)
 
Simple yet twisted, playful and delicate, her brief pop masterpieces don't evoke any specific territory and don't burden themselves with any roots (Les Inrockuptibles, France)
 
Maïa Vidal is part-French, part-Japanese-American and makes music as diverse as her background. (PRI "The World", US)
 
Playful confident start from US-born artiste … Hints of Feist and Camille… Combines heart-on-sleeve honesty, deceptively simple writing and tender vocals. (Uncut, UK)
 
Her music is close to that of other folk-rooted eminences such as CocoRosie and Joanna Newsom, of the dreamlike world of Pascal Comelade, of the cinematographic atmospheres of Olafur Arnalds… (El Pais, ES)

Enchanting moods… bold arrangements… impressive… beautiful and graceful voice… (Die Zeit, DE)
 
 We didn't need more than 40 seconds to fall under the spell of Maïa Vidal's voice (CultureBox, France Television, FR)

Her third full-length, You're the Waves, which drops in September, feels like a real breakthrough (VICE, US)