Since her first album Taranta in 2012, Pauline de Lassus, aka Mina Tindle, has been exploring the same delicate yet complex pop-folk path, always poetic no matter what. She enjoys working with different people depending on the project—from JP Nataf to Thomas Bartlett to Olivier Marguerit.
"What drives me is the mirror, the dialogue… the surprise of collaboration," says Mina Tindle.
These reflections also resonated when she toured with The National, recorded the score to critical success film La Nuit du 12 by Dominik Moll, performed at PEOPLE festival in Berlin and more. After releasing her album SISTER during Covid, she took a step back, painted, wrote, and illustrated children's books.
At the end of 2023, she began working on new songs.
Starting with "Rosa", dedicated to a beloved grandmother.
"My sorrow will find its shape," Pauline sings.
"There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in," said Leonard Cohen.
And from this beautiful, grief-filled lullaby came overflowing inspiration.
"I no longer knew how to be a musician—I needed it to be obvious again."
Lyrics and melodies came naturally to Pauline, who, for the first time, worked in private with her husband, Bryce Dessner. "He’s the person who knows me best, we’re on the same wavelength, we resonate the same way," she says.
No need for many words to understand each other, which made it easier to compose the ten songs on Compass Rosa, which embrace a freer sonic flow.
This freedom comes partly from Pauline’s writing—still intimate but even more immediate.
Because these songs, like letters to loved ones, were born at home, written on guitar or piano, with the rhythm of the seasons. It’s a self-portrait.
Since the very beginning, the female gaze has been central to Mina Tindle’s creativity, helping her coexist with both the good (love, friendship, transmission) and the bad (toxic masculinity, the anxious climate of a damaged planet).
The artisanal chemistry in the studio also helped shape Compass Rosa’s organic structure—recorded in five days at David Chalmin’s place. For the first time since stepping away from the stage due to health issues, Sufjan Stevens, a long-time family friend, left the US to join them in the Basque home. Ben Lanz came to play drums and synthesizers. Subconscious minds met, each musician bringing their own touch to the many instruments available, creating a palpable unity.
The string arrangements composed by Bryce Dessner were sensitively performed by nine instrumentalists brought together by the Zaïde Quartet.
Here, folk embraces its classical side, echoing deeply authentic works by artists like Adrianne Lenker, Aimee Mann, Aldous Harding, Cat Power (during The Greatest era), or even Elvis Presley. And there’s also a touch of Chico Buarque’s bossa nova…
The important thing, Mina Tindle reminds us, is not the destination, but the journey—one that only reveals itself by walking.
And by listening—on repeat—to the unforgettable melodies of Compass Rosa.
