Maniac Maison releases New Museum

Maniac Maison – the sickeningly talented Brussels-based three-piece with a penchant for wild synth melodies and unexpected turns – release their self-titled debut album through Belgian DIY label Humpty Dumpty records (Yôkaï, Monolithe Noir, Coraline Gaye, Mountain Bike).

Maniac Maison started when Berklee-trained jazz pianist and film composer Casimir Liberski was looking to bring pop form to some hairy midi-based sketches at the back of his hard drive. Subsequently, he brought in his childhood friend and prog-pop auteur Lucien Fraipont (Robbing Millions, Aksak Maboul, Duid) and fellow Berklee-alumni and Japanese girlfriend Shoko Igarashi to collaborate.

Despite Casimir having the initial material, the project soon developed beyond Lucien being the “form” guy and Casimir the ideas man. It became a truly collective production, where the distinctive musical personality of each member comes through with them each having an equal share of songs.

The three first became close during a trip to Los Angeles in 2017 that was serendipitous by virtue of the fact that they were all going there for separate reasons, and they had the sort of time there that you couldn’t plan if you tried. They were all welcomed to the inner circle of the Echo Park indie scene and spent time at the likes of Ariel Pink and Mac De Marco’s houses thanks to Lucien’s well-connected producer Shags Chamberlain.

Yet, with Shoko and Casimir still living in New York, and Lucien over in Brussels, it wasn’t until they were all living in Belgium full-time that they would start working on Maniac Maison material. In 2020, Casimir built a studio in the basement of an art déco house Brussels’ Ixelles district that he lived in with Shoko and Lucien was in and out. Making full use of lockdown, hundreds of songs were amassed then eventually a core of 10 made it across the finish line.

They might all have jazz backgrounds but the music bears little resemblance to it in any pure or classical sense. They all bond over their appreciation for boundary-breaking outsider art and are ill concerned with what’s the so-called “hip” thing to make. They’ve been inspired by everything from Japan’s electronic pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra and Belgian’s synth-pop boffins Telex, to vintage Japanese video game soundtracks and Mozart. With this apparent lack of orthodox references, does Casimir consider himself a contrarian?

Watch the music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPrMyCC3OvU