Over the past couple of years I’ve written a bit about the Perpignan, France-based psych rock duo The Limiñanas, and as you may recall the duo have become one France’s most renowned indie acts, thanks in part for a sound that draws from psych rock, shoegaze, and yé-yé, centered around arrangements featuring fuzzy, distorted power chords, reverb heavy hooks and effortlessly cool vocals. And much like fellow countrymen La Femme, their sound is heavily indebted to 60s American guitar rock and psych rock — while managing to capture something quintessentially French.
The last 18 months or so have been very busy for the French duo, as they released the Istanbul Is Sleepy EP, an effort that was initially recorded at their home studio and finished it at Anton Newcombe‘s Berlin-based studio. Of course, The Brian Jonestown Massacre founder and frontman,contributed his imitable vocals and guitar playing to the scuzzy, garage rock stomper and EP title track “Istanbul Is Sleepy” which was reportedly influenced by Rain-era The Cult. Earlier this year, the duo released the Shadow People LP and the album finds the renowned French duo collaborating with a number of folks including French actress Emmanuelle Seigner and Renaud Picard, the frontman of Hair and the Iotas on the meditative and hazy “Shadow People,” Bertrand Belin on the chilly and menacing, synth-based “Dimanche.” Adding to a very busy 18 months, Because Music will be releasing I’ve Got Trouble in Mind, Vol. 2, The Limiñanas’ second collection of rare recordings, 7 inch singles and unreleased material on November 16, 2018; but in the meantime. the duo released a video for “The Gift,” off Shadow People, a single that features the imitable and unforgettable bass playing of Peter Hook. Interestingly — or perhaps I should say unsurprisingly — the track sounds like the perfect amalgamation of Hook’s most beloved New Order work with the renowned French duo’s effortlessly cool take on psych rock. “We wrote and recorded ‘The Gift’ at home in Cabestany and then finished it Berlin at Anton Newcombe’s studio,” explains Marie. “I’m pretty sure you’ll recognise Peter Hook’s lead bass. He’s been one of our heroes for a very long time.” (I’ve Got Trouble in Mind, Vol. 2 features Anton Newcombe’s mix of the song, so in some way this video is something of a teaser for the compilation.)
Directed by longtime collaborator Aurélien Richter, the recently released video is decidedly French New Wave-inspired and continues a run of incredibly cinematic accompanying visuals. Unsurprisingly, the video features Foulke de Boixo in a prominent role, and as the duo explains “The video reflects on high school years in gangs; the mods, the skins, the rockabs and the rudeboys smoking cigarettes while hanging in the schoolyard. ‘The Gift’ looks at what’s happened to two of these people over the years and how they may have missed out on a lifelong love story.”