Manel is an

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

who sing in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

. They released their first album in 2008. They describe their musical style as a synthesis of pop and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. Critics have linked their style to that of other Catalan-speaking musicians such as

Pau Riba Pau Riba (7 August 1948 – 6 March 2022) was a Spanish author and Mallorquín versatile artist. Riba was born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain on 7 August 1948. He started working during the 60s in the context of the counterculture. Riba died from ...

Jaume Sisa Jaume (, ) is a Catalan male given name. It is the equivalent of James. Notable people Notable people with this given name include: * Jaume Aragall (born 1939), Spanish tenor * Jaume Balagueró (born 1968), Spanish filmmaker * Jaume Balmes (birth ...

, and Antònia Font.

History

The members of Manel met while attending Costa i Llobera school in Barcelona. They first came to public attention as finalists in the 2007 ''Sona9'' music competition, in which they were awarded the ''Premi Joventut''. With the prize money they were able to cover the production costs of their debut album,

''Els millors professors europeus''

''Els millors professors europeus'' (''The Best European Professors''), whose title alludes to a lyric of the song ''Pla quinquennal''. The album, recorded at Estudis Nòmada 57 between June and October 2007 and produced by Discmedi, was released the following year to critical acclaim. The Catalan magazine Enderrock pronounced it the best

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

album of the year. In its issue of January 2009,

Rockdelux ''Rockdelux'' is a Spanish music magazine. History and profile ''Rockdelux'' was first published in November 1984, and celebrated its 200th anniversary in October 2002, when it released a list of the 200 greatest international albums of all tim ...

described it as the third best Spanish album of the previous year, while the magazine MondoSonoro rated it the seventh-best. The

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

for ''Dona estrangera'', directed by Sergi Pérez, was awarded the prize for best video at the 2008 Cinemad festival. Apart from the songs featured on ''Els millors professors europeus'', the group's repertoire includes cover versions of ''No t'enyoro'' by

Els Pets ''Els Pets'' is a Catalan pop rock band with lead singer, composer and guitarist Lluís Gavaldà from the village of Constantí ( province of Tarragona, Catalonia). Joan Reig plays drums and Falin Cáceres bass. At present, the band has th ...

, ''

La Tortura "" (English: "The Torture") is a song by Colombian singer Shakira, featuring Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, from Shakira's sixth studio album ''Fijación Oral, Vol. 1'' (2005). It was released on 13 April 2005 by Epic Records as the lead single ...

'' by

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

, and ''

Common People A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

'' by

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

. It wasn't long until Manel became a sociocultural phenomenon in the Catalan-speaking world, giving rise to a considerable number of new Catalan-speaking pop groups, among whom, distinguished by the sales numbers they have achieved, are

Els amics de les arts Els Amics de les Arts is one of the best-known bands of what some have called the new wave of Catalan folk- pop. Their songs are short stories made with simple melodies, touches of electronic music, wordplay and much irony. History ''Catalonau ...

. ''Els millors professors europeus'' went

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

, selling more than 30 000 copies.

''10 milles per veure una bona armadura''

Their second album, from which two songs (''Aniversari'' and ''Boomerang'') were released in February 2011, went on sale on 15 March 2011 titled '' 10 milles per veure una bona armadura''. In ten days, it became the best-selling album in Spain. The title comes from a phrase pronounced by

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

Much Ado about Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

. In its first week, it sold more than 10,000 copies and reached number 1 on the CD sales chart in Spain, something which hadn't happened with a Catalan disc in more than 15 years. This second album was also released on vinyl.

''Atletes, baixin de l'escenari''

'' Atletes, baixin de l'escenari'' (in English, ''Athletes, get off the stage'') is the third studio album by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

group Manel, published by and distributed by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

in CD, vinyl and digitally. The album was released on 16 April 2013. In its first week, the album reached number one on Promusicae billboards in Spain selling more than 10,000 copies. The title refers to an incident at the 1992 Olympic Games where an announcer ordered a large number of dancing athletes to get off the stage as it was feared it would break.

''Jo competeixo''

On 1 March 2016, Manel announced through a press release the release of a fourth studio album, entitled ''Jo competeixo'', which was released on 8 April and consisted of eleven songs, recorded between November and December 2015.

''Per la bona gent''

On 12 September 2019, Manel announced the publication of their fifth studio album, entitled '' Per la bona gent'', which was released on 4 October and consisted of twelve songs. This work included collaborations with artists such as

and María del Mar Bonet.

Members

* Arnau Vallvé: Vocals, percussion, and

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

* Martí Maymó: Vocals, bass guitar,

contrabass Contrabass (from it, contrabbasso) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchest ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and sweet flute * Roger Padilla: Vocals, guitar, banjo,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

and MIDI * Guillem Gisbert: Main vocals, ukulele and guitar

Discography

* ''Els millors professors europeus'' (2008) * ''10 milles per veure una bona armadura'' (2011) * ''Atletes, baixin de l'escenari'' (2013) * ''Jo competeixo'' (2016) * '' Per la bona gent'' (2019)

References

External links

Official site
*
Biography and reviews
*
Manel se va de fiesta mayor. Diario El País (20 August 2009)
{{Authority control Musical groups from Catalonia Spanish pop music groups