Équipe de FootGeranium
DATA
Labels
Yapéno/Luik
Format
CD/LP/Digital
Release Date
June 10, 2022
Territory
Europe
TRACKLISTING
1. An Empty Space Is Not Just Filled With Air
2. Cosy Nothing, Moving Coffin
3. Silly Seal, Asleep, Rolling Down A Hill
4. Quatre -Vingt-Quatorze
5. Melancholy Eyes
6. SLVOTE
7. Love, Beers, And A Queen Size Bed
8. Geranium
9. 15 Octobre
10. Think, Blink, Breathe, Blink, Speak, Blink, Breathe
11. Drunk At Best
ABOUT THE RELEASE
Équipe de Foot is a French duo of singer-songwriters who record pop songs and play them much louder live in concert. Since their formation in 2015, Alex & Mike have played hundreds of gigs, from the sweaty basements of their hometown of Bordeaux to the stages of nationally renown festivals and European venues, making a solid name for their band, and little by little becoming part of the new wave of French rock, right beside bands like Lysitrata or Johnny Mafia.
On stage, Équipe de Foot is like a bulldozer in a china shop that revels in shaping up diamonds: a sound that swallows everything, a loving music that makes us rise, crushes us, then makes us rise again, moves us and galvanises us. The duo shows irresistible ease when they rock it in overpowerful live acts that bring people together.
Primarily based on a need to exorcise a break-up and make the walls around them shake, the duo has come a long way, and has turned it into a more personal playground for them. While still very much enjoying ouverloud the cathartic explosion of playing loud anthems and harmonizing their screams in desperate love songs, they’re adding a brand-new layer to their cake by experimenting a lot more and taking liberties with the codes of the genre.
As their first two full-length albums explored profound and someti- mes dark themes, such as death, cultural and familial legacy for “Marilou” (2019) (the name of Alex’s yet-to-be conceived daughter) and break-ups, pre-midlife crisis and new starts for “Chantal” (2017), the duo keeps going with a self-centered approach. The real difference now lies in the songwriting, and the choices of production. No more hiding behind huge walls of distortion, they now proudly dance in front on them. In this new album, following Eels or Sparklehorse‘s examples, Équipe de Foot assume that their flaws might be their greatest strength, and bring their love for English and American indie pop music and production to the forefront in their songs.
They’re not just a garage duo anymore, but two French musicians with stories to tell and a boiling imagination when it comes to turning life into music. For their new album, “Geranium“, they have chosen to work with producer and sound engineer (and also Beatles fan) Johannes Buff (Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, The Drones, Dalek and other amazing projects of all horizons) at Shorebreaker studio in Tarnos, France. A meaningful choice in technical and artistic terms, Johannes being able of assembling well Équipe de Foot’s good old wall of guitars, as well as reaching the heart of their pop songs to make the whole thing gloriously shine, without altering the charming homemade vibe emanating from their beloved demos.
Adressing grown-up themes with a child-like approach, this third album is a collection of confidences, Alex and Mike playing them on the thin line between irony and depression, though constantly keeping smiles on their faces, be they sincere, melancholic or simply sad.
Musically speaking, “Geranium” is constantly moving, Alex and Mike regularly switching places to sing or play the organs, the piano or whatever instrument they’re obses sed with at the moment (usually a flute). The album is a constant rollercoaster, alternating lo-fi ballads and powerful anthems, but always with a twist, be it a pitched loop on a chorus or an autotuned solo trumpet at the end of a sad piano song.
COVER
