"Parc de Beauvoir," the new English-language track from bilingual Montreal duo Bibi Club's upcoming Feu de garde, is a gorgeous exercise in contrasts. "Did you bring the water bottle?" asks vocalist Adèle Trottier-Rivard, chronicling a seemingly peaceful day in the park with observational non-sequiturs: "The kids are playing around, around us."
But there's also a dark urgency to "Parc de Beauvoir," something heard in the urgent pulse of the drum machine and stormy guitar tones that cast a shadow across the sunny scene. "Did you hear the woman scream? / She scared me at first, but not anymore," Trottier-Rivard deadpans. The image of running children has a menacing undertone: are they running for play, or out of fear?
These questions are unresolved, leaving "Parc de Beauvoir" in a beautiful middle ground: darkly dramatic, but with a stately beauty that beckons listeners in.