MI AND L'AU - Mi and L’au

Yet another shining creature born under the roof of Young God Records, under the aegis of Michael Gira and on the recommendation of that other gifted soul, Devendra Banhart.

Devendra, in his wanderings gathering precious glimpses to turn over in his hands and shape into small musical stories, met Laurence (L'au) in Paris, a musician who offered him hospitality. He was struck not only by his gentle spirit but also by his compositional gifts, which he kept in mind for later, when the Frenchman would go on to make the self-titled "Mi and L'au" with his Finnish partner Mira (Mi).

The record was born out of a sentimental-spiritual retreat in the Finnish woods, in a shelter equipped with everything needed to keep warm, love each other and write songs. The choice to temporarily withdraw from the Parisian metropolis - the setting where the artist and the model met, and for a time the decadent, romantic backdrop of their peak/love - can be seen as a phase of purification and experimentation with the symbiosis between two delicate, evanescent spirits, an introspective journey into the Self and the Other, well shielded from the intrusion of artificial noise and urban excess.

The result is a minimal folk sound, built from voice, acoustic guitar and sparse instrumentation scattered across a few tracks, a faithful mirror of the cover art, which depicts the shelter blanketed in snow and whiteness.

The room set up by Mira and Laurence is clear and essential. The dim light of candles makes possible an intimate, mutual gaze, in search of a contact that is light yet intense, in a kind of Birkin/Gainsbourg stripped of a certain, direct carnality.

The fairy tale begins to unfold in "They Marry", a warm, relaxing music box suspended in mid-air.

The diaphanous understanding, in which the faint Finnish voice is welcomed into the gentle arms of the French guitar, in "Philosopher" and "Burns", caresses and soothes the spirit, carving out a space of warmth against the chill of the Outside.

If L'au opens up into fragile, lost declamations in "I've Been Watching" and "New Born Child", indirectly evoking certain Leonard Cohen-like intimacies and Nick Drake-like melancholy, Mi bestows a celestial, emotional caress upon all creation in "Older", enriched by violins, like a hand reaching out to lightly brush the head and the heart, opening a passage for the partner's discreet return in the velvety, splendid "Nude", a track endowed with an infinite, moving grace, like a fluid, unhurried mutual exploration.

L'au's guitar adores without overwhelming Mi's vocals in the soothing lullaby of "Andy", a melody able to gently gather up every tear shed, asking nothing in return, restoring lost calm. Watery, elusive echoes reverberate in the pensive guitar of "Study", the subtly melancholy close to this journey/return to the warmth/languor of amniotic memory.

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30/04/2026