Marit Larsen: singing, rhythm guitar, hollow guitar
M2M (My Fair Girl) is composed of two little girls from Norway, Marit (My Good Girl-Marit).
Marit and Marion met in 199 (when they were about five years old). Because of their love of music, they became good friends and often performed together for family and friends. Their first record was the children's album Synger Kjente Barnes Anger (Sings Famous Children's Songs) recorded in Norwegian at the age of eight, and this album was also nominated for "Best Children's Album" by Spillemanspriest (equivalent to the Grammy Award in Norway). At that time, their group name was Marit &; Marion。
M2M signed a contract with Atlantic Records in July 1998. The first single Don't Say You Love Me was written by M2M and co-produced by Celine Dion and Jennifer Paige. And it became the theme song of Pokemon：the First Movie, and with the release of the movie, it has gained a wide response in radio stations all over the United States and continues to have a fever. At present, the single sales volume ranks fifth, with more than 4, records. M2M's first album Shades Of Purple was released in March, 2. M2M arranged all the songwriting, and invited album producers from popular artists groups such as Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, etc. to do their best.
following the release of the best-selling album Shades of Purple under Atlantic Records in 2, M2M finally released its latest album with the expectation of everyone. This teen pop group from Norway has returned to the music scene with their most enjoyable and emotional works so far! Marion Raven and Marit Larsen, two older girls of M2M, once again cooperated with producer/musician Jimmy Bralower (Donna Lewis and Jennifer Paige). Together, the three made a very charming album, which was full of pop songs created with confidence and skills. Their own songs "Miss Popular" and "Everything" shine with irresistible melodies, frank and straightforward lyrics, and of course, the perfect chorus like their registered trademarks.
In the new album "The Big Room" in 21, we will hear the musical growth of the two after M2M took the first step in music.
"It's been two years since my last album, and many things have changed. Marion, 17, said, "When we released our first album, we were still looking for our own position. Now the second album will show our progress. Some fans will be surprised, whether in the field of singing or in their personal life, but I think they should know that this change will happen eventually.
Our fans have grown up. Marit, 18, said, "I hope they will grow up with us. The songs we write are all about our current experience and what we have experienced since the first album. Fans may have experienced many new things. I think it is very important for everyone to see our progress, because we don't want to make the same album at all.
"The Big Room" album was recorded in the famous Bearsville studio in Woodstock, new york. The title of this album is taken from the main room in this studio. At the same time, it has another meaning, because the songs in the new album were written by M2M during its world tour. For these two big girls, the world seems to be "The Big Room". In order to record this album, they closed their studio for six weeks in the freezing cold winter in early 21.
"We lived there in January and February," Marion recalled. "It was so quiet and pleasant that we could concentrate on recording. It was much better than the noisy recording studio in the city center.
During the recording period, M2M was accompanied by an outstanding small jazz band, including Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (bass, hollow/electronic guitar, organ and synthetic instrument), Jimi K. Bones (electronic/hollow guitar) and Kenny Aronoff (drum and percussion instrument).
"The recording process is amazing. Marit said, "We finished eleven songs in the first six days. We recorded all the basic tracks by singing live in the studio, just like the Beatles used to record: one, two, three, four, start recording! This way is really cool, because we have the opportunity to capture the atmosphere and vitality of the scene, which are lacking in many albums at present. Now, a lot of music has been computerized, and everyone wants their music to be perfect, so they forget that music itself contains a vitality.
The goal of the album "The Big Room" is to create a kind of pop music dominated by natural guitar music, which sounds reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, Sheryl Crow and Jewel, as well as alternative singers Counting Crows and Travis, all of whom are musical inspiration sources of M2M.
"Now, this kind of music seems to be a popular trend. Marit said, "I think people are beginning to return to the music of the 196s and 197s.
Although our music will never belong to the category of rock and roll, Marion said, we will always write pop songs, and we like to call them "organic pop music".
In addition to eight songs written by M2M, such as "Jennifer" and "Don't", these two older girls also brought many extra melodies and lyrics when they arrived at the studio. In order to shape their ideas, they immediately began to cooperate with Bralower and Peter Zizzo (they are behind the scenes to create the hit single "Don't Say You Love Me" in M2M's debut album.
"Most of the songs on the album were written during the tour," Marion said. "We wrote a library of songs together during the tour, about 18 songs, and then we co-wrote two other works" Everything "and" What You Do About Me "with Jimmy and Peter. We like working with them very much. We feel very comfortable and very interesting.
Through this album, M2M's songs capture seed of love's feelings, whether it's the infatuation of young couples or the jealousy that there is no room for a grain of sand in their eyes.
"Our songs are all about love, because we are only seventeen or eighteen. In our minds, we spend most of our time thinking about it. Marit said, "But our songs are not superficial descriptions of' I love you, do you love me? Things like that, they go a little deeper.
These songs are all our experiences or our thoughts. Marion said, "This album is mostly about love, but some of it is about jealousy or the way we look at the world. It is different from previous works, but it still has M2M style.
"Everything "is a fascinating single and the most outstanding work of M2M. It has an infectious pop melody, depicting the bitterness of love in the post-adolescent period, and the feeling of expecting and being afraid of being hurt.
"This is one of our crazy works," Marion said. "It describes a love affair with a rotten man. When you look back on everything, you will find that this man ruined everything. "
" Basically, it describes the girl's feeling of going crazy when her boyfriend doesn't call. Marit said, "You know you should forget him, but this man has all kinds of attractions for you, so you just don't want to let go, so this feeling drives you crazy!
Is the hero in this song a real person?
"maybe! Marion said with a smile.
apart from the gripping melody and carefully arranged arrangement, M2M's sweet and harmonious chorus and strong lyrics make the album "The Big Room" more audible. The forming process of this album, just like these two big girls, is very natural. Their relationship of * * * existence and complementarity has injected enthusiasm and purity into their music.
"Our music is natural," Marion said. "We only make our favorite music, and we never consider the market trend. Marit also said: "Nowadays, people are full of making money. They forget that music itself is the most important thing, and they are only willing to make some pop music that will not lose money. But the reason why we entered the music world is because we want to communicate with people with our own music!
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In 1999, Atlantic Records released the animated cartoon "Sing Pikachu- This single is the number one single in Denmark, Norway, Finland and all of Asia. In Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, there are also Top 2 achievements; In Australia and New Zealand, it won the recognition of gold records.
With the success of this single, M2M followed suit and released their first album "Purple Love". This album included another best-selling single "Mirror, Mirror", which caused a sensation all over the world and sold more than 1.5 million copies, especially in Southeast Asia. It won the amazing results of seven platinum in Thailand, six platinum in Indonesia, four platinum in the Philippines, three platinum in Malaysia and double platinum in Singapore, and it was also affirmed by platinum records in Taiwan Province and South Korea.
M2M and their "Purple Love" are also quite popular in the United States. Two singles, "Don't Say You Love Me" and "Mirror, Mirror", made it to the Top 5 of the charts, thanks to these two singles which were affirmed by gold records. This album reached the top spot in the Heatseekers list set up by Billboard for new artists. "Shades of Purple" is not only loved by the audience, but also praised by American music critics. Many well-known music magazines give high praise, including three and a half stars from Rolling Stone magazine.
In order to make the release of "Purple Romance" in the United States smooth, M2M arranged a lot of publicity activities, including singing at Epcot Center in Disneyland, recording the whole process and editing it into a special program "M2M&; BBMak In Concert」。 In this special program, M2M sang all their best-selling songs live, and also included behind-the-scenes tidbits when Larsen and Raven visited the famous scenic spots in Florida Disneyland. In the autumn of 2, M2M joined the Han Brothers' concert tour in North America.
Next, the single/music videos "Mirror, Mirror", "Pretty Boy" and "Everything You Do" were released, which made the M2M craze continue to spread all over the world. In order to promote the album "Shades of Purple", they traveled all over the world in 22 countries, including Europe, Latin America, North America, Asia and Australia.
M2M has also won many awards in international music circles, including the "Best Norwegian Group Award" at the 2 Hit Awards in Norway (and they were also nominated for the best song of the year); Nomination of "Best Chorus Group" for Spelleman Award in 21: In June 2, the Singapore Radio Association awarded M2M the "Discovery of the Year".