Laura Krieg’s Latest Album, Vie magique
A synth-punk musician from Montreal, Québec—in translation, the artist aptly self-describes:
Laura Krieg is a means of geocritical self-defense.
A cold wave of brutalist pop.
a drum machine
a mic
and silver sequins.
Vie magique
Vie magique was released on March 21, 2022 via Detriti Records. The album was written Laura Krieg and was produced herself and Johnny Couteau, who also filled in some guitar and synth. Sans “Ces cadavres,” the album was mixed by Xavier Paradis of Automelodi.
Punchy, sharp, and, dare I say, cool–all the tracks are strong, and this EP has easily become a repeat listen. Laura Kreig’s take is satisfying, but refreshingly unique.
Fin du travail, vie magique
“Fin du travail vie magique!” is a graffiti on a wall in Paris and one of the chapters of Maintenant, a book by the Comité Invisible, which inspired the song title and lyrics.
The music video for “Fin du travail, vie magique” was created by the artist K089, who has also done work for She Past Away, Automelodi, Marie Davidson, and Essaie Pas.
Personally, the video and wider album art direction remind me somewhat tonally of a film by Jean Rollin, La nuit des traquées, wherein patients of a mysterious high-rise clinic are catastrophically losing their memories as the result of an unusual environmental accident. The film is strange and elusive, but is a critique at the conjunction of demise between madness and modern living.
I find it’s also bringing to mind Tetsuo: The Iron Man in a way. Swap out industrial cyberpunk, for a brutalism-infused, 80s inspired art-punk and replace the body horror component with the angst of humdrum modernity. Instead of metal, he’s being consumed by…the office.
It’s giving Orgone Accumulator and derail. Whatever the amalgamation is, I’m into it.
Abstract text featured under the video serves well to convey its point:
A black cat screaming against wage labour
corporate culture
team bonding
self promotion
team building
time management
team retreat weekend team getaway after-office activities
and such abominations
Carried by melodically cutting synth, these themes mirror in “Bureaupathologie.”
Tout s’effondre tout va bien
Existential dread and tongue-in-cheek cynicism continues through to “Tout s’effondre tout va bien,” which translates along the lines of “Everything is falling apart, everything is fine.”
Dans tes rêves
tout va bien
entre quatre murs
tout va bien
tout s’effondre
tout va bien
il fait beau
tout m’avale
tout va bien
tout m’avale
et la nuit tu danses dans l’obscurité
et la peur du vide disparaît
et la nuit tu danses dans l’obscurité
et la peur de l’autre disparaît
dans la ville
l’odeur blanche
la nuit tombe
les jours passent
les pensées et les actes
tout s’effondre
tout va bien
In your dreams
everything is going well
between four walls
everything is going well
everything is collapsing
everything is going well
the weather’s nice
everything swallows me
everything is going well
everything swallows me
and at night you dance in the dark
and the fear of emptiness disappears
and at night you dance in the dark
and the fear of the other disappears
in the city
the white smell
night is falling
the days pass
thoughts and actions
everything is falling apart
everything is fine
Ces cadavres
Vie magique delivers a brooding Batcave number with “Ces cadavres.” As instrumental wail builds in crescendo, eerie and atmospheric guitar is interchangeably cut by tightly punctuated and commanding vocals. I really enjoyed this one.
Elles sont très contentés
Ces cadavres
regarde ces cadavres
mortes dans le noir