“I feel a deep connection with the audience in Budapest.” – Mélanie Pain on accidental beginnings, her new album and returning to A38

Before her voice became known worldwide through Nouvelle Vague, Mélanie Pain lived a completely different life in Paris, studying political science and working in web agencies. In this conversation, she reflects on the unlikely path that led her to music, the intimate songwriting behind her new album How and Why, and the quiet emotional spaces where her songs are born. The French singer-songwriter will return to A38 on March 28, a venue where Hungarian audiences have been following her journey for years.

Hungarian audiences first encountered your voice at A38 through Nouvelle Vague, and since then you’ve returned to the Ship four times with your own solo project – this upcoming concert will be your fifth. What does it feel like to come back to a place where people first connected with your voice in one musical context, and now meet you again through a much more personal body of work?

Wow, it’s amazing to be back at A38 with a new solo album. I feel a deep connection with the audience in Budapest. I’ve also worked with Budapest Bar and have some incredibly talented friends in the city that I’m excited to see again. It’s very emotional for me to share this new work, and I feel so lucky that Budapest still welcomes me so warmly.

Your path into music was quite unusual. Before singing professionally, you studied political science and worked in web and design agencies in Paris. Looking back now, do you feel that becoming a musician was a sudden turning point in your life, or was music always quietly present somewhere in the background?

I was living a completely different life before music. Becoming a singer was almost accidental, but it changed everything for me. It transformed me so much that sometimes I hardly recognize the person I was before I started singing. I’d say it was a turning point with no going back.

When you first began touring internationally, you suddenly found yourself performing in front of large audiences around the world. Did stepping onto those stages feel natural to you, or was it something you had to gradually grow into as a performer?

Nothing felt natural at first. The first time I stepped on stage, I was completely paralysed, but I also felt a world of freedom opening up in front of me. It was so liberating and exciting that I had to jump in. The emotions were overflowing; I couldn’t ignore them.

By the time your first solo album My Name was released in 2009, audiences already recognised your voice, yet the record revealed a much more intimate and personal side of your music. What made you feel it was the right moment to begin writing and releasing songs under your own name?


It came naturally. I was touring constantly, and people started asking if I would release an album of my own. Composers were sending me tracks, and I felt so lucky and blessed that I started to consider it seriously. In the end, I called the album My Name as a statement of surprise. I couldn’t believe people wanted to know who I was. I felt a bit of impostor syndrome most of the time.

Your songs often feel like fragments of memories or quiet emotional snapshots rather than traditional narratives. When you begin writing a song, do you usually start with a story, or with a mood or atmosphere you want to capture?

It’s true, I write about emotions. I’m too private and discreet to write directly about myself, so unconsciously I express my feelings and glimpses of stories that could belong to me or anyone else. I like that they’re not specific, it allows people to connect with the songs in their own way.

Your new album How and Why was written during a creative retreat and feels very intimate, almost like the listener is sitting in the same room as you. What kind of environment or state of mind helped these songs emerge during that period?

The album came together in a very calm and focused space : a small wooden cabin by the river. We spent our days playing guitar, singing, experimenting with melodies. It was all about intuition, gentle energy, and letting the songs grow naturally without pressure.

The title of the album comes from the song “How and Why,” which you’ve described as being about resilience and the mystery of how some people manage to remain hopeful even in difficult moments. Did that idea become a kind of emotional thread running through the whole record?

Yes, absolutely. Even songs like Bluer than Blue ask the same question: how and why does hope come back, even in the hardest times? The answer might be music, love, or even the smell of a magnolia flower… It’s a thread that runs through the entire album.

You’ve also mentioned that this album took longer to finish than you originally expected, partly because there were moments when you simply didn’t feel you had the energy to complete it. Did that slower, sometimes uncertain process influence the emotional tone of the songs?


It’s my fourth solo album, and I produced it entirely myself, with full artistic control. The process took time, and there were doubts along the way. But I know I’ve made an album I truly love and own, and that’s already huge for me. I think listeners can feel that gentle, steady strength in all the songs.

You worked closely with guitarist and producer Jérôme Plasseraud on the record. When the two of you were shaping these songs, how did that collaboration work in practice? Did the music grow out of conversations and improvisation, or did you arrive with more fully formed ideas?

We work intuitively, experimenting and trying different ideas. Jérôme plays guitar while I sing, then we shape melodies together. I add lyrics, and we tweak arrangements until it feels right. It’s messy but organic, we follow emotion, and if something gives us goosebumps, we keep it; if not, we keep working.

Most of the songs on the album are in English, but there is one notable exception: “Senden Daha Güzel.” What drew you to that particular song, and why did it feel important to include something linguistically and culturally different within the record?

A friend of mine, Aslan, who teaches French in Istanbul, sent me a playlist when I said I wanted to cover some Turkish songs. Senden Daha Güzel immediately caught my attention. It reminded me of the grunge and rock I loved as a teenager, like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, with a melancholy hidden behind loud guitars. I decided to reinterpret it softly; as Kings of Convenience said, “quiet is the new loud.” Including it felt like opening up to new sounds, cultures, and emotions : a very rich experience.

After more than two decades of singing in different projects, do you feel that your solo work has now become a completely separate artistic identity, or do those earlier collaborations still echo in the way you write and perform today?

Nouvelle Vague is part of my musical DNA, so I can’t fully separate from it. My voice is the same, but singing my own words feels much more personal. I love having both paths; touring with Nouvelle Vague is still amazing. I even just sang a song for their next album, so it will always be a huge part of my musical life.

After performing at A38 several times over the years, you’re almost a returning guest of the ship. Is there a particular memory or moment from your concerts here that has stayed with you?

So many memories! One night after a show we probably had a little too much pálinka. We laughed endlessly, then got stuck in the snow because the van battery was dead. We had to ask a local driver for help, it was hilarious. Definitely one of the best nights on tour.