The Next Big Thing

So it’s Sunday afternoon and maybe it’s time for something that’s a little more sedate. Something to stave off the thought of Monday. And there’s nothing better for that than Maia Hirasawa's debut album "Though, I'm Just Me" on Razzia. The title is something of an understatement. There's a broad base of potential appeal here which straddles your average demographic. In Maia-world, you can take a step back and just let the classic pop craft do the work. Her exotic accent is a result of being Japanese, living in Sweden and singing in English. This album contains 11 songs and is out on April 4th.

Some of them might be familiar if you were lucky enough to snag a copy of her self-released EP but appear here in different form. The brass sound of “Parking Lot” is immense yet understated and goes straight into the first single “And I Found This Boy”. As fresh a swinging girl-group anthem as you’ll come across. Check out the video on YouTube. The kind of sound that airwaves were invented for. It’s a mature album for a debut. You’d think she was an old hand at this game. It has a kind of Cocteau Twins texture to it in places but more conventional. Something that can engage the listener rather than disenfranchise them. Maia has a spontaneity which is very easy on the ear.

When she opened for Hello Saferide in Glasgow, you could have heard a pin drop. She spellbound the crowd into keeping their traps shut. How bloody often does that happen? She’s nice to “Gothenburg”, it’s no wonder that it’s likewise to her – that’s the deal she broke with the place in the song after all. With the right breaks, and a steady build, this lady is assured a long and chequered career. In these days, when songs are in the process of taking precedence over albums, the promise of her writing seems boundless. Something like “Say Goodbye” seems like a standard already. The piano and strings are used to create lush moods for her lyrics to wrap around. Like “urban” never happened. Did I hear you whisper, “if only”? So ditch the chocolate this Easter and give the gift of Maia. It's a sweet sound alright and it won't balloon you hips but it might balloon your hipness.

(If you check this out and get the bug like me then snag a copy of the single too because the additional song “A Year With You” isn’t on the album. )

Jesper Hedin appears on the album so that seems like a good segue into Autisterna. The group he and fellow HS alumni Per-Olof Stjärnered have going in the aforementioned Gothenburg. Imagine a jangly Bob Hund and you’ll get an inkling into the sound that’s bursting from their two song demo. In fact, you can listen at myspace, cannae say fairer than that.