Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague - 3

Written by Sebastian Huhn Thursday, 02 July 2009 16:37

Title: 3
Artist: Nouvelle Vague
Genre: Acoustic / Pop
Release Date: 3rd July 2009
Label: Sony Music

Album Review

What’s to think of a duo, only releasing cover versions thus far? Actually, nothing good! In the case of French duo NOUVELLE VAGUE, however we can make an exception for once. Their kind of covers are closer to reworks than they are to dumb copies of the original and they’ve already proven how much difference lies between the original and their rendition with ‘Master & Servant’, originally by DEPECHE MODE. Now, that one’s opening their newest menu ‘3’

But as we know that little song already we’re going to move one forward to ‘Blister in the Sun’ that brings indeed a sunny vibe with fluffy guitar chords and drums rounded out with a lovely voice. The TALKING HEADS classic ‘Road to Nowhere’ gets a little country flavour and atmospherically captures the feeling of walking down a lonely road when the sun’s almost shone down. ECHO & The BUNNYMAN’s ‘All My Colors’ even goes down to a slow-mo jazz number, accentuated with brushes on the drums and playful guitar touches atop, whilst evoking a serene melancholy ringing through the soft melodic breezes present at all time in the song. The icing on the cake, however, comes with Ian McCulloch doing the lead vocals. A lot less melancholic hence a bit earthier instrumentally is ‘The American’ and it’s coming up with a simple yet effective chorus line. One of those you’re hearing once in the morning and can’t get it out of your head for the rest of the day.

My little personal favourite of this collection is the very last song though. A brilliant new version of TALK TALK’s ‘Such a Shame’. Gentle little piano tones lead you to the first verse, intonated with much feeling. Later on, after the chorus, slow-mo drums are coming in, underscore but never dominate. For the next chorus then, the rhythm is gently altered and even trumpets and lower strings are added. It’s usually in these moments that the song gives off a noir spirit like arisen from one of these old movies. ‘3’, despite its uninspired title, is an easy listening collection of classic songs celebrating a revival through the cunning reworks of the two producers. I can guess that some even might appeal more to one or the other in their recent form than they did in their original.

Tracklist

01. Master and Servant - 3:20
02. Blister in the Sun - 3:12
03. Road to Nowhere - 3:11
04. All my Colors - 3:58
05. The American - 3:43
06. Heaven - 4:09
07. Parade - 4:04
08. Metal - 3:47
09. Ca Plane pur moi - 3:22
10. Our Lips are sealed - 3:30
11. God save the Queen - 2:46
12. Say hello wave goodbye - 5:00
13. So Lonely - 3:51
14. Not knowing (Bonus Track) - 3:04
15. Aussi belle qu une balle (Bonus Track) - 3:32
16. Such a Shame (Bonus Track) - 3:55

Line-up

Marc Colllin & Oliver Libaux

Website

http://www.nouvellesvagues.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/nouvellevague

Cover Picture

Rating

Music: 7
Sound: 8
Extras: -
Total: 7.5 / 10

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