Meet Manou, a 16-year-old half English, half German singer-songwriter.
There’s not a whole lot of information out there about her at the moment (perhaps because she’s 16), except that she lives in Germany and heads over to London to perform small shows at clubs — which are chaperoned by her manager, because she’s too young to be in those clubs. Did I mention that she’s 16?
“Sadie” is the first taste of what’s to come from the promising songstress’ debut LP, produced by John “P*NUT” Harrison, who’s also worked with Amy Winehouse, Dido and Foxes.
Armed with an airy voice that resembles Lykke Li, the track builds across a thumping pulse that brims with warm, shimmering synthesizers and vague ’90’s vibrations (especially with those bell sounds). She’s been compared to TLC and Sophie B Hawkins, but I hear something more Scandinavian — and perhaps even just the slightest hint of Róisín Murphy in those bouncing beats: “Wipe off your lipstick now / Wash the tears and settle down, it’s going to be alright,” she assures her heartbroken friend.
It’s an intriguing, refreshingly rich brand of left-of-center pop proving that, as with the current Billboard chart-topper Lorde, age ain’t nothing but a number.
