Nouvelle Vague
Nouvelle Vague (2004)
eatdogs
Nouvelle Vague is a French Bossanova band known for having
multiple female singers and for covering 70’s and 80’s New-Wave and Post-Punk.
Taking a unique style of Lounge music, Nouvelle Vague bring
an interesting quirkiness on their 2004 self-titled debut album and it’s done
without a wink or notion of being hip. The truth behind this idea was when musicians
Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux came together with the idea to cover Joy
Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart†Bossanova style. After accomplishing their
goal, they then went on to cover even more songs they were fond of and thus
Nouvelle Vague was born.
The song selection on this album is pretty great overall.
You have notable tracks like the mentioned “Love Will Tear Us Apart†by Joy
Division and “Guns of Brixton†by The Clash, but then you also get some deep
cuts like “Friday Night Saturday Morning†by The Specials, “A Forest†by The
Cure, and an amazing version of “Just Can’t Get Enough†by Depeche Mode.
Interesting fact, of the 13 songs covered here (15 on the
special edition) not one of the eight female singers had ever heard them. That
might sound crazy, but what it brings to the table is a sort of honesty to the
music and a desire by the creators of this group to pay tribute to these
original songs by artists they respected from long ago.
Only minor complaint is at points the female vocalists all
start to sound the same, but their whispery performances give the songs a fresh
air feeling and can make you relax in those late night hours, so it’s not
really that big of a deal.
Other songs covered on this album include:
“In a Manner of Speaking†by Tuxedomoon
“Making Plans for Nigel†by XTC
“Psyche†by Killing Joke
“I Melt with You†by Modern English
“Too Drunk to F**k†by Dead Kennedys
“Marian†by The Sisters of Mercy
 “Teenage Kicks†by The
Undertones
“Sorry for Laughing†by Josef K*
“Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)†by A Flock of
Seagulls*
and the always awesome, "This Is Not a Love Song"
by Public Image Ltd.
Sit back with a cheap beer, put this record on, and try to
get past the fact that you are listening to familiar songs sung in a completely
different style and be amazed by how IT WORKS! Also good headphones are a plus.
Dig it…
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(*denotes songs from the special edition of the
album)