Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague is a cover band basically comprising of musicians Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin alongside various other singers. The French band’s name means ‘new wave’ and serves the twofold purpose of referring to their ‘French status’ as well as their ‘artiness’, which specifically points to the cult of new wave French cinema that became popular in the sixties.  The latter meaning is significant also because the group plays covers if New Wave, punk rock and post-punk songs alongside which it applies the bossa nova-type arrangements of the sixties. Many of its contributors and former members include French artists that have become quite well-known as solo acts and are taken to be part of the Renewal of French chanson, some of whom are Gerald Toto, Marina Celeste, Phoebe Killdeer, Camille Dalmais and Mareva Galanter.
 
Nouvelle Vague has gained considerable media coverage with several of their songs being featured in commercials, particularly Teenage Kicks and Just Can’t Get Enough of You, both of which have been used in UK ads; their tracks have been used in television series like Gossip Girl, Glee, Skins, Nip/Tuck, and The Inbetweeners among others, while also being used in films including Bridesmaids, The Accidental Husband, and Elvis and Anabelle.  Nouvelle Vague tickets are a hot favorite among concertgoers particularly those who love elements of Bossa nova and New wave.
 
Nouvelle Vague’s first studio album presents a collection of covers of classic hits from the New Wave era that have been interpreted in the bossa nova style. The tracks were stripped to their acoustic basics with shaker rhythms attained after carefully gathering a host of singers from over the globe including one New Yorker, six French and one Brazilian to make covers of bands like The Undertones, The Cure, Tuxedomoon, Joy Division, The Clash, Modern English and XTC. Many female vocalists, who performed on this album, had never heard the original songs before, which was a conscious choice made by the group so that each cover would be played uniquely. 
 
In 2006, Nouvelle Vague released their second album called Bande a Part which includes versions of New Order’s Blue Monday, Buzzcocks’ Ever Fallen in Love, Yazoo’s Don’t Go, Echo & the Bunnymen’s The Killing Moon, Blondie’s Heart of Glass and Grauzone’s Eisbar. In 2009, the band released their next album called 3, featuring Martin gore of Depeche Mode, who sang Master and Servant with the group’s member Melania Pain, and Ian McCulloch from Echo & the Bunnymen. The album includes songs like Our Lips Are Sealed, All My Colors, and Parade by Magazine. Other artists featured on the album include The Specials’ Terry Hall, Barry Adamson, Nadeah Miranda, Chris Bailey of Australian band The Saints, Samy Birnbach from Belgian group Minimal Compact. Towards the end of 2008, the group performed an acoustic version of the song God Save the Queen for the show Balcony TV, on a little Balcony looking over Camden Lock. In September of the following year, Nouvelle Vague took off on a world tour starting in Birmingham, which they completed in Washington DC in 2010. The touring singers included Karina Zeviani and Helena Noguerra. 
 
In 2010, Nouvelle Vague released a compilation album in two versions; one being a fifteen track CD and the other being a two-disc set. Several of their songs have made it big being featured in films; their cover of In a Manner of Speaking by Tuxedomoon, appeared in episodes of Sugar Rush, Hollyoaks, Korean drama called Soulmate and in the 2007 movie A Mighty Heart; it was also performed by in the Justin Timberlake film In Time, while it was covered by artists like Mai Khalil in the song, Dear England.  Their best known songs include Blister in the Sun, Dancing With Myself, Bela Lugosi’s Dead, Teenage Kicks, and Heart of Glass. Nouvelle Vague tickets are up for grabs, so make sure you book them in time and be there to enjoy yet another incredible concert by them.