Emerging French indie rock project Edgar Mauer was formed back in 2020 by its founding member, singer/songwriter and musician Maëve as a way to work around various gender issues. Alan, a multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer and Camille Bigeault (drums) joined, turning the project into a full-fledged band that developed a sound that meshes elements of Bristol trip-hop and Kate Bush-like pop with a modern touch.
The trio’s latest single “Elma Casper,” is a gorgeous and slow-burning dream pop-like song centered around Maëve’s yearning delivery, Bigeault’s tribal-like drumming, Alan’s glistening guitars paired with a soaring hook. Sonically “Elma Casper” — to my ears — recalls The Sundays, The Cocteau Twins and even Mazzy Star. And much like those acts, the song itself is rooted in the deeply personal, with a novelist’s attention to psychological detail.
As the band explains, the song’s inspiration comes from a mysterious name scrawled on a wall in Paris — Elma Casper. And Maëve wound up writing a song, imagining what Elma Casper’s life would be, while also wondering if someone scrawled her name on a random wall, if someone would be as curious as she was. They add that the song is an ode to the feelings and experiences we leave behind when living and leaving ap lace, accepting our own trajectory.
