Air Devi is a Philadelphia-based indie pop band featuring Jay Fien (drums), Jacob Hershman (lead guitar) Seth Fien (bass) and Devi Majeske (vocals, rhythm guitar, keys). After releasing the album chicken nuggies & rosé in 2018 and following up with a couple of singles, the band are back this spring with a brand new EP Swanning About.
To whet our appetites, Air Devi have released the lead single, ‘Flâneuse’. Opening with bright and breezy guitar line, the song more than lives up to its title. A flâneuse is the feminine form of flâneur, an idle stroller of city streets described by Charles Baudelaire. The flâneuse does not involve themselves in the urban environment but observes it, becoming what Virginia Woolf described as a “central oyster of perceptiveness, an enormous eye.” This sense of unburdened freedom is present in the track, its gentle rhythms conjuring a carefree lightness and mindful disposition.
The song is based upon Devi Majeske’s own experiences, finding herself in a city far away from home and gradually coming to find her place there. “I wrote this song as a way to say thank you to the people who were warm and welcoming to me when I was all alone and a foreigner in their country,” Majeske explains. “The song is about how the world can suddenly feel much smaller when you find traces of yourself in others.”
If one is observant, ‘Flâneuse’ tells us, if one can walk and watch with no ulterior motive or purpose, then you might just be surprised at what you find. You might not be quite so alone after all.