PrimaDonna – an ever-unfolding series of collaborative songs – sees Pablo Padovani celebrate the female musicians who surround and inspire him. A new chapter in MOODOÏD’s story unfolds with PrimaDonna Vol. 1 – one that is co-written by its most prominent, fundamental, and ideal collaborative characters.
More than simple duets, the songs forming PrimaDonna Vol. 1 are fully-developed collaborations—the concrete results of Pablo’s most meaningful encounters. Back in 2016, just as she was set to release her song "Manque d’Amour", Juliette Armanet sought him out to direct her very first video. And now, "Ideal" feels like a response of sorts, binding together their mutual passion for melodies which spiral around from the hips all the way up to the heart: “it’s an accomplishment but certainly not an end.”
Melody’s Echo Chamber was the one who gave Pablo the confidence to become a professional musician when she welcomed him into her band as her tour guitarist. Her sunny vocal inflections on "One Only Man" are like a beam of light shining towards the future, a song driven by a funky bassline talking about recovering from lost love by cherishing its most beautiful moments. Pablo directed the eerily thrilling video for "Only One Man", which was shot in the French Rivera.
Other encounters served as the main inspiration for the songs: Pablo met twin sisters Say Lou Lou on a road-trip across California, and the quasi-Lynchian siren voice of Miranda Kilbey on French Boy is reminiscent of the twilight vibes of Hollywood Hills.
Felicia Douglass(heard with bands like Dirty Projectors and Ava Luna), a musician and singer of Jazz ascent like Pablo, lent her slender voice on melancholy ballad "Sentimental Lover", written on a piano in the moonlit streets of New York.
Stephanie Lange’s performance on "Puissance Femme" stands out as one of Pablo’s fondest memories, given that he is a complete fan of Saâda Bonaire, the cult 80’s trio she co-founded. She agreed to go out of retirement for him, recording the track at her house in Bremen. Her voice, alternately femme fatale and enchantress-sounding, evocative of Marianne Faithfull if she were doused in Oriental fragrances, shares the spotlight with Pablo’s: “In the eighties, men with slightly macho personas were given the lead, and women were usually thought of as sensual, decorative backup singers. I wanted to switch things around, Stephanie needed to be the song’s driving force.”
This approach can be applied to every song on PrimaDonna Vol.1. Companions, soul mates; their voices are equally fascinating, troubling, and powerful. They are the first chapter of Pablo Padovani’s long-lasting and ever-unfolding story. A landscape with infinite borders, open to be explored—hand in hand.
Website: moodoid.lnk.to/primadonna
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Moodoid
Twitter: twitter.com/Moodoidmusic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/moodoid/