Le Couleur
Concorde
Lisbon Lux
Montréal, QC
RIYL: Choses Sauvages; David Cronenberg’s Crash; flying first class
In his new book On Nostalgia, Edmonton-based writer David Berry describes the potential trap that nostalgia threatens as “a feedback loop that would gradually but persistently turn our own past into a shining perfect gem, precisely the memory we need to get us back on our feet and out in the world, regardless of its relationship to what ‘actually’ happened.” Looking back at the peak of air travel through the lens of loungy disco on their latest album Concorde, Montréal’s Le Couleur deftly avoid such pitfalls by balancing their retro longing with a healthy dose of tragedy.
It’s easy to see why the Concorde jet is such a rich concept for a band to hang an album concept on: it’s symbolic of the peak of technology, luxury, and sexiness. But by framing that luxury on a path that leads ultimately to death, there’s a morbidity to the material that questions whether or not the nostalgia is aspirational without a healthy dose of melancholy to go along. That sense of balance is further maintained between the heavy concept and the lightness of the music, which is lush and careens weightlessly without ever feeling like it’s on autopilot.
– Michael Rancic
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