Fresh off the back of a support tour in the United States where they opened for Blonde Redhead last week, and following a busy fall during which they performed and received a nomination at the Gala de l’ADISQ, and several concerts in Montreal, the duo Bibi Club, consisting of Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque, announce a second opus, “Feu de garde,” available May 10 via Secret City Records. Harsh things become magical as the duo transforms them into lyrics. The concrete dust that fills the city air turns into bright sparks that rekindle childhood glee. Pushing back the boundaries of genres and letting their creativity run free, Bibi Club fill “Feu de garde” with relentless rhythms. Rhythm, breath, nonviolent tension. The album was mixed by Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding, Dry Cleaning) and mastered by Matt Colton (Depeche Mode, James Blake, Peter Gabriel). Today the duo shares a dynamic, bright-sounding single – “L’île aux bleuets” - and unveil a tour that will take them to France, to Nuits Botaniques in Belgium, and across Quebec this spring.
Click HERE to preorder the album.
Bibi Club share the inspiration behind the single released today: “’L’Île aux bleuets’ is located on a lake in the middle of the Laurentides in Quebec. A secret lair that you can only reach by swimming there, by surpassing your limits. The song was written in a London park, amongst the trees. Just guitar, vocals and a drum machine, inspired by the minimalism of our main influence, Suicide. It’s about love, obstacles, forging ahead, jumping off cliffs, being authentic, doubt, and the strength someone can give you.”
Click HERE to listen to the single “L’île aux bleuets.”
Click HERE to watch the visualizer for “L’île aux bleuets.”
Like the guardians of a fire that is as protective as it is destructive, Bibi Club appear with arms wide open, presenting their second opus, “Feu de garde.”
“Feu de garde” is not about devastation. Carefully tended by the bibis, the flames bring light, comfort, life. The embers transmit energy, and their warmth protects us against frostbite as a harsh winter finally comes to an end. Deep into the forest, near a river or beneath the 40 overpass, communal power unfolds in all of its vastness, then it bursts into countless pieces of glitter and as many melodies that are simultaneously festive and insightful.
A former member of the very first exclusively female scout group, the Girl Guides, Adèle reconnects with the values that made her who she is: courage, perseverance, sisterhood, friendship. The years she spent in that community, discovering nature and developing intense relationships, became part of her identity and informed her writing, all the way to the creation of Feu de garde. The influence of Moondog, Stereolab, and, more than ever, Suicide can be heard in the direct, singular approach of the album, which also features group chants inspired by Girl Guide outings in the woods.
The profile of a woman from every region multiplies like an echo. Like the thousands of festive people who attended the tour for Le soleil et la mer. Bibi Club won the “Great Hope for 2023” award at the GAMIQ and was nominated in the “Revelation of the Year” category at the Gala de l’ADISQ. Their debut album made it on the prestigious Polaris Music Prize 2023 Longlist, it was included among the best Quebec albums of 2022 according to Le Devoir, and it was raved about by CBC Music, Exclaim!, Cult Magazine and more. On the international front, following praise from Les Inrocks, Tsugi, La Blogothèque, and Magic Magazine, some of their songs were added to the official playlist of France Inter, and the duo was deemed a “discovery” by the magazine Libération: “Minimalist but very well written, this is intimate music in which instruments, noise and (bilingual) vocals are interwoven smoothly, as it dabbles in the world of childhood dreams and games.” The song Parasite made its way to BBC 6Music, and both KCRW and The Line of Best Fit found the duo to be among the best Canadian indie artists.
Bibi Club have opened for Blonde Redhead, Pomme and November Ultra, in addition to performing in France at MaMA Festival, in England at The Great Escape, in the United States at SXSW, in Wales at Focus Wales, in Brazil, in Germany, and in Canada during a vast summer tour. And the list grows longer every day. On May 10, with the release of “Feu de garde,” joy will outweigh sorrow.
TOUR DATES
- May 11 – Val David, QC - Mouton Noir
- May 12 – Ste-Thérèse, QC - Festival Santa Teresa
- June 6 – Paris, FR – Le Pop Up
- June 7 – Laval, FR – La Fosse
- June 8 – Dunkerque, FR – Festival L’ilôt
- October 5 – Sherbrooke, QC – La Petite Boîte Noire
- October 11 – Lévis, QC - Le Vieux Bureau de Poste
- October 12 – Verchères, QC - Le Phare Culturel
- November 22 – Quebec, QC - L'ANTI