Working to “Dig!’ himself out from beneath the weight of public perceptions after Ondi Timoner’s 2004 documentary about the rivalry between The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols, Anton Newcombe relocated to Berlin, opened a studio and label and has been prolific in recording, producing and releasing his own and other peoples’ music.
On Diabolique, Newcombe joins forces with actor/singer Emmanuelle Seigner and French husband and wife garage rockers The Limiñanas, that’s multi-instrumentalist Lionel and drummer Marie, as L’Epee to present a hazy mash of “Venus in Furs” Velvet Underground, late 1960s sitar psychedelia and Gallic garage. The quartet have worked together before in various combinations and their chemistry is evident throughout the record as is their joint love of classic proto-punk, French underground pop and Morricone.
Not for Seigner the cliché of the breathy French ingénue; singing in French and English, she brings a world-weary insouciance perfectly in tune with the narcotic fuzz of the music. Her tone and mood harks back to her 2007 collaboration with VU influenced French duo, Ultra Orange on which she gave full reign to her professed love for the Stooges, Lou Reed and contemporaries like Mazzy Star.
Her duet with Bertrand Belin “On Dansait Avec Elle” based on a slowed down ye-ye rhythm works so well because although it brings Gainsbourg to mind, it subverts roles, with Seigner as the knowing lead and Belin following pained and hang dog in her wake. More Charlotte than Serge. Elsewhere there is the motorik drive of “La Brigade des Maléfices” and “Ghost Rider” and the disembodied pop of “Springfield 61” complete with a “La La La” chorus, church bells, tambourines and a warm blanket of fuzz beneath.
If Diabolique sometimes verges on pastiche the quartet never descend into camp. Seigner has a gravitas that grounds the songs and the band plays it full-blooded building layers of guitars, organs and sitar upon mid-tempo beats to create dense hypnotic fugs. Newcombe’s attention to detail is evident in the production and there are “aha!” moments that reward repeated listening: the percussion sounds and droning guitars on “Un Rituel Inhabituel”, the subtle name checks of The 13th Floor Elevators and the New York Dolls in “Last Picture Show” and the luxuriously analog feel of the entire record.
L’Epee has produced an album greater than the sum of its myriad of great parts. If Seigner is front and center, Newcombe and the Limiñanas provide her with a filigreed setting. Diabolique is a trip into the underworld from which you will return revitalized and ready for the next leg.
En garde! Debut album from L’Epee (Anton Newcombe, Emmanelle Seigner, The Limiñanas) out in September on A Recordings
If you think you would like a band that features Anton Newcombe (The Brian Jonestown Massacre), ace actress and songstress Emmanuelle Seigner, and Lionel and Marie Limiñana (The Limiñanas), then we have some (s)words for you! This supergroup of sorts does indeed exist. And it is called L’Epee. And it will be releasing its debut album in August!
New Video: The KVB Releases Dreamy Visuals for Shimmering "Violet Noon"
New Video: The KVB Releases Dreamy Visuals for Shimmering "Violet Noon" @thekvb @invadauk @clarioncallpr @imtherealcb
Initially formed back in 2010 as a solo recording project of its founding member, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Wood, the British shoegazer act The KVB stated off with a number of limited cassette and vinyl releases that included “The Black Sun,” which was released through FLA Records and the Into the…
