anaïs shares debut EP ‘Before Zero’
The EP features two more tracks: Window and a wonderfully moving cover of Charles
Aznavour’s La Mamma.
On
writing Set In Stone, anaïs says,
Back when I was living in New York my friend used to constantly tell to me “stop fighting the current”. I wrote ‘Set In Stone’ about that; the “fixed” mind-set that I had for so long about how things should and have to be. Once I let go and allowed myself to be more fluid, things began to drastically change in my life. Being in London, in the studio, living my dreams, and writing ‘Set In Stone’ was evidence of that.
Anaïs was born in in Toulouse, France but of Senegalese and Italian
origin. When her parents split and her father returned to Dakar, anaïs
and her mother moved to Dublin. Not speaking any English she remained
silent at school for 7 months until she had perfected the language
without any French accent. Only two years later she was sent to spend
time in Dakar with her father where again she couldn’t speak the
language. Her mother moved again to Oakland, California where her
encounter with African-American culture finally led Anais to feel she
belonged.
She attended NYU where she studied at the Clive Davis Institute of
Recorded Music, where her contemporaries and friends were Arca, Kehlani
and Gallant - before moving to London in Spring 2015 and to start making
both connections and music.
Her music – all written and produced by
anais herself - balances a fine line between art and commerce. It’s the
stories of a being young black woman in 2018 who has travelled
extensively in her relatively short life and has often not had a place
to call home. But while its socially and politically astute and intended
to open a conversation, it’s also beautifully, compellingly accessible.