French band Pays P. prep debut album -- watch the "Vassili voir" video

May 6, 2021

French trio Pays P. have been together for a few years now, making dark, heavy, romantic rock, big on dynamics and drama. Having released a self-titled cassette last year, the band are gearing up to release their debut album, Ça v aller, on September 10 via Peculiar Works, the new label started by Michael Jaworski and Sohrab Habibion of SAVAK. You can preorder now.

A little background on the group, via SAVAK: they met Pays P. on tour in November 2018 where they played a show together in a sweaty basement club in Paris. Jaworski and Habibion were knocked out. “It’s always exciting to hear new bands on tour, but it’s uncommon to be blown away by them,” Michael says. “I was completely mesmerized, watching and listening to Pays P. — brothers Lucas and Pablo were creating some unholy noise on guitar and drums while Laura danced wildly, singing back and forth between two microphones. Their music was powerful and beautiful. And it sounded like nothing else to me. I was extremely moved and genuinely transformed by their performance.” Michael and Sohrab were so moved, that when they got back to Brooklyn, they invited the band to come to NYC and make an album at their Gowanus rehearsal space, which Pays P. did nearly a year later.

Meanwhile, Pays P. apparently had the same effect on Big Thief‘s Buck Meek. They opened for him in Paris and soon found themselves opening for Big Thief on the band’s European tour in early 2020 that managed to wrap up — except for one date (Italy) — before COVID put a halt on touring.

The extra time afforded by lockdown allowed for Jaworski and the band to finesse the mix further, and it was during that time that SAVAK launched Peculiar Works and decided to release Ça v aller. And here we are.

We’ve got the premiere of the album’s intense first single, “Vassili voir,” that sounds like souped-up drag racers revving their engines, drivers looking sideways at each other, trying to psych one another out, as they wait for the flag to drop, while singer Laura Boulic bellows (in French) “I’ve become deaf to my best thoughts, I’ve begun tuning in to mediocre thoughts!” The video for the song, directed by Sara Olaciregui, is equally gripping but also a little comic, with Pablo and Lucas playing football behind Laura who is lost in song. It’s terrific, as is the video, and you can watch it and listen to Ça v aller‘s title track below.