Bio
Yasmine Kyd is a Paris-based singer/songwriter/producer of mixed origins. She grew up on the Atlantic coast of Brittany, listening to sounds from around the globe: Berber folk music (her dad’s Algerian), jazz, soul, bossa nova and British pop music. Seamlessly piecing together her influences, she has a knack for melodies that stay with you, serviced by a distinctively mellifluous, yet powerful vocal presence. Her style as a lyricist balances interest in intimate personal experience with concern with contemporary social reality: she'll sing about love and about migrants stranded in the Calais jungle ;)
While her first album 'Earth Woman' (2010) featured a collection of sensitive soul ballads, with a warm acoustic production, her second album 'Mythical Creatures' (2013) came as an elegantly produced collection of love songs to jazz and blues, with a hint of nu soul and hip hop, which was described as reminiscent of both Joni Mitchell and Erykah Badu.
'Privacy Settings' (2016), took further Yasmine and her team's efforts at creating a truly personal sound, and offered itself as a musical adventure taking you from a slightly dystopian story in funk mode (That One Day), to an emotive jazz ballad featuring French jazz master Eric Le Lann (Is it Time to Go Home?). It was warmly received across Europe.
Click here for press.
Now, Yasmine and her amazing band (Laurent Avenard on guitars; Mat' Stora on drums; Zacharie Abraham on double bass; and Leandro Aconcha on keys) have teamed up with hip hop beatmaker Redrum to put together the new album Showtime!, a tasty blend of jazz, hip hop and soul !
After the opening number Mandalay and its modern re-interpretation of 70s-style songwriting (Bill Withers, Carole King etc), the single Thrill, with its warm neo-soul production, sounds like an invitation to embrace the challenges of life with optimism and to look back tenderly on the past. The song features the talented young rapper Blakchyl, from Austin, TX.
Conceived as a genuine album that you can either cherry-pick from or enjoy from start to finish, Showtime! embarks listeners on a colourful musical trip designed to both emote and entertain. We hope you will enjoy the ride.
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The album was mixed by Seb Houot at Wise Studio and mastered by Simon Capony at Basalte Studio. Live acoustic parts and vocals were recorded at Wise Studio; all beatmaking and sampling was home-studio recorded by Redrum.
Click here for press review of Showtime!
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Photography for the album is by Agata Wolanska; design is by Sarah Debail (Become Studio).
Click here for bio in French.