Maridee
Don’t be fooled by the title of Maridee’s “Heart to Heart”; it’s not the typical, sappy love song you’d usually hear on Valentine’s Day.
Actually, you could say it’s the opposite—an un-melodramatic, falling-out-of love song describing the moment when two close friends or lovers realize it’s time they go their separate ways.
“It talks about how people can be in sync and feel love for each other, but the next moment things will be different,” she said. “It’s about acknowledging that, knowing that you can’t own anyone. People pass, they come your way, and they can stay or they can go.”
Like of all her songs, “Heart to Heart” was written from personal experience, about a romance that ran its course. But, as she makes clear in the lyrics to her song, Maridee harbors no regrets.
“We were both changing,” she said. “[‘Heart to Heart’] is about not trying to hold on when everything’s telling you not to, but to let go in a way that respects the person and lets the person become who they want to become.”
Born and bred in Montreal, Maridee (née Mariama Dupuis) has been singing as long as she can remember, but started to devote more time to her music two years ago. If you want to make her smile, point out that her voice sounds a lot like Lauryn Hill’s (“That’s the ultimate compliment!”). Her other influences come from a variety of musical backgrounds: Aretha Franklin, De La Soul, a little jazz, and some old blues like Robert Johnson and Elmore James.
For her first record, Musaïc, Maridee partnered up with guitarist Marlon Kroll, whom she met when the two were working in a restaurant together. Usually he comes up with a skeleton of a beat, and she lays over some chords and composes the music for the vocals.
Working with Kroll has had a “big impact” on her music, she said. “He’s really something else. Sometimes I think the way he makes music he’s from a different planet.”
For this Link Live Session, Maridee and Kroll were joined by DJ Dr. MaD, a.k.a. Mahdi Saoula.
In the spring, Maridee hopes to release her second full-length, Nox.
“I’ve never been this excited about a project before,” she said. “Usually I’m really critical. I don’t think it’s that good, but this is different.”
So what’s Maridee up to this Valentine’s Day? “I’m going to eat some fried seafood with my friend. We’re going to love seafood tonight.”
—Geoffrey Vendeville
