Memoria, new single by Indochine, and how a title becomes a cult

French rock would not be the same without Indochine nowadays. Here is the band that has become a reference for a lot of new bands as Nicola the enigmatic leader and songwriter explained in an exclusive interview recently. Not many French bands with a 30 year old career have been following the new trends and reviving the old ones as Indochine does. We are all waiting eagerly for their 12th album due on the 11^th of February. The first single was released on the 15^th of November on the digital platforms. Memoria is its name: An intriguing title that the fans have discussed with passion on the social network. Abstract, symbolic, mysterious, this is a title that catches the attention and makes you wonder where it comes from. This is how a new album should start: a strong title and a good cover artwork. We will come back to the artwork later.

When I first heard the introductory sound of the single on soundcloud, that was released as a first teaser, it was a raw version of the final product…It was like hearing an organ in a church. Three long mesmerizing notes that set the atmosphere for what was to follow: Something to do with the cold -wave influences of the past, a darkness reminding me of Interpol or Editors. We already know that Editors have written a song for Indochine’s new album. It was officially announced on the band’s website when the titles were revealed. We also know that Lescop,the popular French new wave band famous for its song “La foret” on the label Pop Noire that also produces Savages, contributed to the album. It speaks of the absurdity of the traffic ladies who do their work in nonexistent traffic in North Corea. This came out in a video on youtube posted by Nicola Sirkis on twitter before we were told that Lescop had written a song about it.The singer, Mathieu, who is also frontman of his other band Asyl, had already co-written a song for the band on the album Alice et June, called “Les portes du Soir" and supported Indochine during their previous tour.

 https://soundcloud.com/indochineofficiel/memoria-intro

Memoria follows a trend of titles that the band has for words ending in “a”therefore sounding latin. Adora, Ceremonia, Dancetaria..Words that reflect a near Latin passion and romanticism, the provocative lyrics dealing with religion and sex, lost faith and emblematic crosses, like the one of their album Paradize that has become a  model for all sorts of artwork like tattoos or merchandising objects. Words with a Latin consonance often express melancholy and nostalgia, ideal themes for new wave bands. Then we have words that sound Latin but are English like Amnesia of Dead Can Dance from their new album Anastasis released in 2012. Memoria falls into the first category but can be accepted as an English derivation as well and it confuses us.. And that is enticing enough.

When in November the single Memoria was released, the fans had already been fantasizing over the content and the context of the single, the media was teasing us on twitter with information leaking here and there about the rest of the album and a tour promised to be the biggest in their history. The fans were already tuned in when the band officially revealed on their website the 16 titles of their forthcoming album. When I hear the start of Memoria I cannot help thinking of the introduction of Next Exit of Interpol. The lyrics, emotionally charged, are sad but there is a positivity in it, hope to revive a lost love mixed with the anxiety of the time that passes, the fear of growing old alone. 

Memoria came with a dark cover, showing an illuminated city surrounded by a faint halo and an overwhelming black sky. The title Memoria hangs in the middle of this sky, a font similar to the one used for the album covers of Editors. Now not only the title of the single was enticing us  because of its dark connotations but also the cover that went with it. A good cover catches the eye of the public by its strong visual symbolism and is supposed to bring out emotions, which is what this cover does. 

Some of the greatest bands have used this strong conceptual architectural design of the city buildings for their albums covers. I can think of Pink Floyd with Animals, or the White Lies with Lose my Life and more recently the solo album of Paul Banks called very simply Banks. His cover was described by Letterman as “mysterious”, like a premonition to the Sandy Hurricane. Paul Banks bravely played on the show in an almost empty room after the disaster.

But not only the mesmerizing title of the single and its cover artwork are a platform for discussion on the social networks but it makes us want to know more about the thematic of the album. What is the connection between the artwork of the cover and the title of the single?

When the title of the album was revealed, Black City parade, there was more brain teasing.. So we recapitulate: A Latin-sounding title, a title in English and a cover of a city skyline: Enough to give you food for thought.

As the discussions became more passionate on the forums and on twitter and facebook ( some did not like the word ”parade” for example), I decided to ask some friends on twitter what they thought of it.

The impressions of a fan about the title Memoria and its introductory teaser, before the title was released on the radio.. the title Black City Parade and the cover:

“Memoria reminds me of a Mass, a communion with people.” “To remember (the last time?). When I say Communion, I do not necessarily think the religious side, but really the story of a symbiosis between two people or groups of people!”

“Regarding the Image: maybe a gaze that makes these two groups reflect on their lives (or it could be their city). It is far, it is a nostalgic look. At night, everyone is at home,this is a good time to reflect. Maybe they are afraid somehow of the future, so they cling to their memories. There are lights that shine like tears too.”

“For the title Black City Parade, I think of the parade at the end of a show of a lifetime. A farewell parade ...”

I also decided to do a spontaneous interview of some teachers, mostly English, and some international students, from my school in Mexico. I collected impressions about what they thought of the two titles Memoria and Black City Parade and their relation to the cover. Most had never heard of Indochine and none had heard the new single. The only clue they had of the album was that it had been written in different cities of the world: Berlin, Tokyo, New-York, Paris, Bruxelles, and they were only told that after they had attempted to answer the questions. They found through their own experiences and emotions felt during their travels in the big cities a connection between the titles and the cover that matched quite well what the singer Nicola Sirkis has revealed about it. In his exclusive interview, he said that the word “Parade” comes from a combination of emotions felt while absorbing the architecture around him, and the events that took place in these cities, like the students revolution in Montreal about the college fees. This epic journey was spent with his daughter for her 10 year old birthday.

The video of the interview:

Enthralling or discontenting the media and fans, one thing we can be sure is that Indochine does not leave anyone indifferent, they never had, and this reflects their strong personality and their unique character, which brings so many passions. 

The exclusive inteview by Nicola Sirkis ;

http://yahoo.skynet.be/actualites/people/article/935573/indochine-pour-premiere-fois-spectacle-sera-aussi-dans-salle?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tweet&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tweet

News about the band

Indochine is back after three years of absence. 300 000 copies of their latest album La Republique des Meteors were sold

The video has 16 titles

Tracklisting de Black City Parade
(album available the 11th of februray2013)

BLACK OUVERTURE
1/ BLACK CITY PARADE
2/ COLLEGE BOY
3/ MEMORIA
4/ LE FOND DE L’AIR EST ROUGE
5/ WUPPERTAL
6/ LE MESSIE
7/ BELFAST
8/ TRAFFIC GIRL
9/ THEA SONATA
10/ ANYWAY
11/ NOUS DEMAIN
12/ KILL NICO
13/ EUROPANE ou le dernier bal

+  THE LOVERS
SALOME
TRASH MEN

The video for the new single, filmed by Yves Botalico was out on the 10^th of December and is out on every music channel. It is currently number one according to Twitter feeds of the 18^th of December.

A film about the making of the album is in progress and teasers are posted regularly on twitter. It is due in June 2013.

It was said on twitter on the 18^th of December that the sale of the tour tickets is number one at the FNAC, the giant bookshop company, in front of Muse.

The biggest tour in their career will take place over at least the next two years and is run by Live Nation:

16 dates for the first part of the tour, called the Black City Tour1, starting on the 21^th of February and finishing on the 2nd of April

25 dates for the second part of the tour, called the Black City Tour2, starting on the 11^th of October and finishing on the 18^th of December.

A date  at the festival in Arras

New dates for Lille and Bruxelles were added to the tour as the tickets were sold out in one day

Indochine is the only French band that has played at the Stade de France. They played there on the 26^th of June 2010. There may be another date, if not two, in June 2014, to complete the tour.