Helena Miquel and Exsonvaldes first met in 2013, at the South Pop Isla Cristina" festival, on the Spain-Portugal border. The spanish singer is at the time on tour with her band Delafé y Las Flores Azules, while the French band is meeting increasing success on the spanish festival scene. They decide to "make something special for the spanish audience", and close a number of their shows with a cover of "Enamorado de la moda juvenile" from Radio Futura.

The members of Exsonvaldes have long wanted to record a duo with a female singer. After this first encounter, and following the advice of their Spanish record company Green UFOs, they naturally decide to write to Helena Miquel. "Before answering, I spent several days listening to their records. I liked them, and I decided to say yes", says Helena. Flattered by the offer, she also takes it as a personal challenge, working with professional musicians from abroad.

The writing process then begins, in both languages, between Paris and Barcelona. Many emails are sent. Generally, Exsonvaldes send songs around for Helena to supplement, re-write or translate. Explanations also have to be given, particularly concerning the song "Cyclop", which evokes the relationship between Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle. "It was a very inspiring writing process, and a team effort. I had to understand what they wanted to say, and express it in my own words. I spent good times at home trying to find the right ideas", tells Helena Miquel. "For us, it was a surprising mirror effect! The result is unique and would never have existed without her or us", adds the band.

In the beginning of 2015, Helena Miquel flies to Paris to record "in a studio where there were no familiar faces, in an unknown city, in a different country". In only 24 hours, she finds her grounding and the songs become real : "I hope people will feel the energy that drove the creation of those songs. I also hope we'll have many chances of playing them live together !"."We're very proud of the songs and we can't wait to hear the reactions on both sides of the border !" conclude Exsonvaldes.

Exsonvaldes & Helena Miquel, 2-track digital EP, out now: https://exsonvaldes.bandcamp.com/album/exsonvaldes-helena-miquel.

Radio premiere on "Discogrande" (Radio 3) on May 4th.

Exsonvaldes and Helena Miquel will be playing live in selected locations starting september 2015.

Promo Spain : santi@greenufos.es / Promo France : promo@interference.me
Booking Spain : greenufos@greenufos.es / Booking France : contact@exsonvaldes.net

Artwork by Sue Wanderlust. Photos by Adrian Madrid and Marta Miquel.