Then her brother, on a whim, asked her to sing in his metal band. She was 15 years old.
To hear Mandeau tell it, that's when she discovered a passion that she'd never before experienced. Devoting her life to music, she embraced every facet of her new obsession, finding joy in such mundane tasks as changing guitar strings and learning music software on her laptop.
After secondary school, she moved to Paris to continue her education, but music came first. As she got to know the city's competitive music scene, she developed her character "Le Prince Miiaou" to help boost her confidence onstage. The more outrageous her persona became, the more it fueled her songwriting. (My favorite of Miiaou's outfits: combination snorkel mask and little red riding hood cape!)
After a strong self-released debut that, without label support, attracted critical praise in France, Le Prince Miiaou released her second album, "Safety First," in 2009. Joined by Norbert Labrousse (drums) and François-Pierre Fol (cello, bass), Mandeau builds on her debut across all areas: singing, guitar playing, and, yes, overall confidence (the snorkel mask is clearly working).
The costumes may be goofy, but Le Prince Miiaou means business. She sings like Cat Power's Chan Marshall fronting a slightly more refined version of the White Stripes. The band approaches authenticity without getting stuck in retro-themed formalist poses. In fact the most "classic" characteristic of "Safety First" is its thrilling consistency: the back-to-back-to-back excellence of the songs recalls the heyday of the LP-as-art.
Still, Mandeau's sense of alienation has been hard to shake. The plaintive "Football Team" channels the heartbreak of an outsider's sour-grapes loneliness using two chords, Mandeau's gorgeous voice, and the repeated chant "They don't want me on their football team." The guitar swells, the cello cries, and even that snorkel mask gets a little foggy.
click the image below to listen to song previews or buy the album:
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