The arctic guitars and sonorous vocals of French trio Versari‘s new single ‘Plus de Tristesse’ are compelling and chilling: creating a dark and threatening tone that is delightfully sombre and architectural in the spaces it creates.
On a bedrock of delicious squawling feedback, the track is gloriously imperious and statuesque, drawing in a Serge Gainsbourg vocal with incisive cutting guitars – part Jesus and Mary Chain, part early Cure. Singer Jean-Charles Versari says:
The creation process of this song was interesting: the musical idea came from a free improvisation (as all our music does) and I took it home to structure and write, as I really liked what we had.
It took me quite a long time to finish it, and it is the last song we recorded for the album – but I knew it was an important one. when we started playing it in the studio, we had to learn how to play it together, and play it well.
In the end it turned out exactly how I wanted to have it.
Fittingly, then, the enigmatic video accompanying the single (directed by Jean-baptiste Deucher and Marie Catry) is filmed in a 12th century church in Rennes, adding a rich gothic tincture to the soundscapes:
The single is off the band’s album ‘Sous Le Peaux’ which was released in April – one I missed but will go and have a listen to immediately on the strength of this single. You can get the single and the album, released through Declared Goods, through the link below:
