Canadian indie-pop duo Bibi Club has announced a deluxe version of their acclaimed 2024 album Feu de Garde, titled Feu de Garde (less braises).
The Montreal-based outfit, made up of Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque, are re-releasing last year’s album with four additional tracks, featuring three alternative versions of tracks from Feu de Garde – one of which features musician Calvin Johnson – as well as a cover of Stereolab’s “Orgiastic”.
The new tracks were mixed by Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) and mastered by Matt Colton (Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel), and they also feature vocals from Helena Deland, Camille Delean, and Carmel Scurti-Belley.
Feu de Garde is well-trodden ground, but Bibi Club has still managed to create something special with the four new additions to the deluxe version.
Starting off with a new version of “you can wear a jacket or a shirt” featuring Calvin Johnson, takes the original version’s sweet, flute-accented sadness and kicks it up a notch – it’s harsher and edgier, and forgoes the flute for the richer tones of a clarinet and a saxophone, which is echoed in the addition of Calvin’s deep vocals. He takes turns singing with BiBi Club’s Adèle Trottier-Rivard, which gives this version of “You Can Wear a Jacket or a Shirt” a very different vibe to the original release. Still dreamy and moody, but more chaotic overall.
The second additional track on the deluxe version on the album is “Le feu II”, an acoustic version of the original album’s “Le feu”. Without the opening snare loop and the high energy of the original version, “Le feu II” comes across as an altogether more gentle, and somehow more melancholic, almost as if the lyrics’ warning of ‘fire rising in the night’ isn’t being heard.
The third additional track is a cover of French-British band Stereolab’s song “Orgiastic”, which takes the original and turns the volume down, forgoing the heavy bass and clashing hi-hats of the original version in favour of a looped drum machine track and distorted guitars, with an additional multi-layered vocal track. This version is very much a love letter to the original, albeit is updated and slightly cleaned-up.
The final additional track is “Nico II”, which is an alternative, slightly truncated version of the original album’s “Nico”, which features fluttery synth sounds and showcases the vocals of BiBi Club’s Nicolas Basque rather than the usual style of Adèle Trottier-Rivard.
Overall, the new additions to “Feu De Garde” are very much a love letter to the original version of the album, taking well-loved tracks in new directions while also paying homage to other artists and inspirations.
Feu de Garde (les braises) is out on May 9th from Secret City Records.
