MIMI AND RIVERS RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM ‘SIMPLE LIVES’
Mimi and Rivers are a musical duo comprised of Chris Baigent (Rivers Edge) and Aimee Belton.
Simple Lives was written after the duo met during the aftermath of the devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Mimi had just relocated to the Waikato from Christchurch with her three young children after losing two houses within five months, and was grieving the loss of home, family and friends. Rivers was also going through a difficult time. “We were broken, for different reasons, and recognized the fragility in one another and the need for connection – which we found through our mutual love of music” says Mimi. “Simple Lives is first and foremost a duet album. Symbiotic musical creativity in its purest and honest form” adds Rivers.
‘’Mimi’s a very strong woman and her power is especially evident in her two songs, ‘Unknown Pleasures’ and ‘Where is Home?’ which express the emotional toll of the quakes. Her beautiful voice and harmonies gave new life to our songs. She can harmonize to anything” says Rivers. Mimi adds “Rivers’ writes fresh poetic lyrics and catchy raw heartfelt songs that have a passionate, real presence.”
Rivers describes the album style as ‘folk pop’; folk based guitar with intricate pop riffs. Lytteltonian Ben Edwards worked on three tracks with additional mixing and arranging on two other tracks was done by Edmund Cake.
Rivers’ acoustic guitar is backed by a solid rhythm section, Matt Shanks on bass and Ben Ruffell on drums. Simple Lives is Mimi’s first album and Rivers’ fourth. His three previous albums were written under the moniker of Rivers Edge.
Mimi and Rivers will be performing on Jesse Mulligan’s NZ Live segment on his RNZ show, 2.20 pm, Friday, 16 November, and at Auckland’s Cupid Bar, Friday, 7 December.
Simple Lives will be available on Spotify, iTunes and all good digital outlets, and in stores (Marbecks, Real Groovy and Slow Boat) Friday, 16 November.
To hear more from Christ Baigent - head over to the Songbroker Search Engine.
