Mélanie Pain – ‘How and Why’ – “fuses Gallic sensibilities to an ineffable pop cool”

LUCKY13 RECORDS 21^st November 2025

A sophisticated evening pop album, ‘How and Why’ fuses Gallic sensibilities to an ineffable pop cool. A lead vocalist with Nouvelle Vague, Melanie Pain has a solo career and you may have seen her supporting that band last year as part of a duo, Kill The Pain, with a witty sense of fun and style. Here, on her fourth album, there is a cool swing to the arrangements, helped by the live recording. Acoustic guitar is up front, with other elements a colouring. ‘Dreamloop’ might be a good place to start; dreamy, gentle; the voice a part of the whole as well as taking us, lyrically, into a swirl of quietly happy feeling.

‘Bluer than Blue’, the opener, is a litmus test. If you like it, you’ll love the rest. A slightly sad sensation that rises calmly, through melody to a happy acceptance. Breathy ‘Magnolia’ showcases the sort of voice that is the classic for French pop, a little vulnerable, a bit of a catch to it, never forced or belting. Lyrics are in English and conjure feelings of time past and lost loves, a gently wry nostalgia. Arrangements add comment – a guitar figure on the title track or a mariachi-style cornet on ‘Magnolia’. The whole draws on the folky end of pop with dreamy melodies and quietly dramatic pieces like ‘Colours In The Dark’. ‘Senden Daha Güzel’ is the exception; sung in Turkish and stepping with an almost-reggae pulse, it’s a cover of a song by Turkish band, Duman. Head-nodding and pleasing, it forms the role of amuse-bouche in the middle of the album.

‘The Bare Truth Of Me’ reflects metaphorically on the joys of growing and aging, the emotional work needed to do so gracefully. ‘Cold Hands’ has a Nick Cave sense of drama as Calexico’s Brian Lopez duets with Melanie – it reminds me of slower Lee Hazlewood / Nancy Sinatra songs. ‘We Were Kids’ is specially breathy and a simple look back at the simplicity of being a teen.

It’s a lovely, pretty and and quietly thoughtful record to drift away to as well as a classic piece of pop.