-M-

Simply one of the most famous French pop stars

A gifted musician and composer with a killer guitar sound

A man who loves “love” and knows how to sing it

English and Americans might have invented Pop Music, but France owns some unique specimens of the genre. Matthieu Chedid, better known as –M-, is unarguably one of them. Appeared in the 90’s with a cartoonesque look, an M shaped haircut, pink suits like only Prince or Elton John would wear –M- has been glowing since then above the French pop rock scene.

-M- is the brilliant result of contemporary romanticism, beautiful song craft and devastating guitar sound. His half real half disguised character has been captivating audiences for over a decade. He has filled up hundreds of concert halls, delivering grandiose performances in extravagant décors, won 9 music awards and signed various collaborations such as the OST of Les Triplettes de Belleville, or songs with Vanessa Paradis or even Sean Lennon. Like many singers –M- talks about love. But not like everyone else. First, “–M-” is an homophone of « Love » in French, second because –M- always manages to turn any love song or ballad into something devilishly sensual yet always applying the magic of his agile and rhythmic guitar riffs.

In 2009, Matthieu Chedid decided to drop the extravagant costumes and show himself with more simplicity, that’s the release of Mister Mystère, his 5th album which unveils a tiny hint of darkness as a response to Chedid’s always joyful looking character . The tour that followed the release of this album led him to China where he gave 3 unforgettable concerts in June 2010.

In 2013 he releases “Il”, a new album with a new trio line up. More simple, more straight forward, more rock. This trio is on its way to China again in 2014 not only for a series of concerts but also to achieve a collaboration Matthieu has started virtually with Shanghai based underground songstress Chacha and her duet project called AM444. Alongside his tour in March 2014, an album called Mister –M- was released specially for China Hong Kong and Taiwan featuring a selection of some of the best tunes from both “Mister Mystère” and “Il”.

Soon after follows a China Tour where Chedid and AM444 meet for the first time and share stage in Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing. That’s where the real adventure begins: French director Mathieu Demy flies in from Paris specifically to shoot an MV of the tune in three days and three sleepless nights. Born to French cinema figures Agnès Varda and Jacques Demy, he followed an actor’s path before founding Les Films de l’Autre non-profit organization, with the aim to produce his own films.
“Détache toi, 神经末梢” is the first extract from AM444’s European EP. The clip drags us into a slow-motion dive into the Chinese night, with blurry, luminous store signs, weird onlookers and steaming food stalls. The two protagonists, ChaCha and -M-, wander about, looking for each other through the darkness of seedy nightclubs and karaoke. Urban, romantic and hazy, this video symbolizes a new breed of border breaking collaborations between the old and new world.