Varsovie, undoubtedly one of the best post-punk bands of the 21st century, are celebrating their first 20 years of career. In these two decades, the duo formed by Arnault Destal and Grégory Cathérina has released five albums and to commemorate their long and interesting career, they have released this compilation that includes five versions of songs that have marked the band and five of their best compositions. It is published by Icy Cold Recods and is available on CD and digital.
Varsovie have chosen five artists who have been important in shaping their music: starting with Bauhaus, the fathers of all this history we love so much, with a faithful and passionate ‘The Passion of Lovers’, sung in French. The poetic side of their lyrics comes from their French heritage, and therefore, the album continues with an abrasive ‘Légère Éclaircie’, original of the great Alain Bashung. When we interviewed the band a few years ago, we asked them about this legendary French artist who we didn’t know too well and, based on their suggestions, we have started to delve deeper into his music. Déviation continues with a cover of another of the most influential bands in dark music, the Mancunians Joy Divison with a pulsating version of ‘Leaders of Men’, this time sung in English. Nex one, it’s another track by a French musician, Jean-Luis Murat’s ‘Les Jours du Jaguar’ from his 2003 album Lilith, as stark as the original which we didn’t know and was a pleasant surprise. This first part of the compilation finishes with a great cover of the Polish coldwave band Siekiera and their classic ‘Nowa Aleksandria.’
As for their own songs, they appear in chronological order, so it is possible to contemplate the evolution since the initial État Civil, released in 2008. Curiously, they have chosen the title tracks from each album, and so already on “État Civil” we can hear a band with clear ideas and that tense, angular sound that characterises them. “L’Heure et la trajectoire” sounds more complex and with a more controlled way of handling the tension we mentioned before. Coups Et Blessures, their third album was released in 2018 and featured nine fantastic compositions full of noise, fury and distortion. It took them three years to release L’Ombre et la Nuit and you can notice it. It’s an already capital work from a more mature duo and it was one of our favourite albums of the year. The album comes to an end with “Pression A Froid”, from their last album from two years ago. The duo has continued to polishing their sound and showing that they still have a long road ahead of them.
