Nouvelle Vague

Originally released last year on European label Peace Frog, Nouvelle Vague is the project of Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux, two French musicians who met in Paris and began working together in 1998. Sharing a love for ’70s and ’80s punk, new wave, and post-punk, the duo envisaged an album of their favourite songs from those scenes done in a completely radical way. Nouvelle Vague (translated as "new wave”) is an attractive collection of classic recognisable anthems performed in the style of jazzy French pop and bossa nova with a handful of different female vocalists. The irony of hearing such a vulgar song like the Dead Kennedys’ "Too Drunk to Fuck” performed with a sweet chanteuse on vocals is what will attract most curious listeners, and that’s a fair assumption. While they tackle the Cure’s "A Forest” with complete anonymity, it’s rare not to snicker with delight at how lucid these covers are, like the beautifully converted "Making Plans for Nigel.” The two musicians have achieved an immaculate atmosphere with their music that is so laidback it’s almost enough to erase the chorus of something as memorable as Joy Division’s "Love Will Tear Us Apart.”