Wax

Description

The drama of Indochine is that the announcement of their comeback provokes, in the average music lover, at best astonishment, at worst the unfair notion that this Wax is to date - and by far - their best album. Freed from the monomaniacal, overpolished riffs of the original guitarist, advantageously replaced (as guitarist and songwriter) by Alexandre Azaria, Indochine put together a true French pop album (a rare thing) with catchy and varied melodies, subtle arrangements combined with top-class production, drawing as much from Dutronc as from Portishead or Depeche Mode. And despite lyrics that swing between the obscure and the very stupid, one remains quite stunned by the success of tracks such as "Je n'embrasse pas", "Satellite" or "Kissing My Song", highlights of this joyful, unselfconscious pop. Will Bernard Menez take up the challenge? Will he make that great blues album we know he is capable of?