Nouvelle Vague producer Olivier Libaux's Uncovered Queens Of The Stone Age is out now on Music For Music Lovers. To celebrate the release, Libaux will play several dates in the U.S., his first stateside performances of material from Uncovered Queens Of The Stone Age. Confirmed dates include Joe's Pub in New York on October 15, World Café in Philadelphia on October 18 and Le Petit Campus in Montreal October 20. More dates are forthcoming.
Uncovered
Queens Of The Stone Age is a compilation of covers from across QOTSA's discography, performed by a cast of female singers in a mélange of styles from folk to bossa nova. Entertainment Weekly praised Libaux for his "awesomely lounge-lizardy grooves" while
The Wall Street Journal heralded that Uncovered Queens of the Stone Age "flips that manly air on its head with a dozen versions of the band's songs sung by women."
Libaux is a founding member of the French band Nouvelle Vague, known for their bossa nova-style covers of post punk and new wave hits-thus, he is no stranger to cover songs. For this album, Libaux hoped to "take things to another level." A longtime QOTSA fan, Libaux reached out to the band's leader Josh Homme to ask for his permission before starting the project. Homme sanctioned the album enthusiastically, calling it a "fantastic idea."
Uncovered QOTSA features 12 tracks intricately arranged and produced by Libaux at his home in Paris. Libaux recorded the backing arrangements, then sent them to his performers, who would send him back their vocals. The songs were mixed by Frédéric Carayol at Mercredi 9 Studio and Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York.
A different singer performs each song on Uncovered QOTSA, except Inara George, who performs two. For "No One Knows," Libaux selected George, one half of the band
The Bird and the Bee. George recorded test vocals for Libaux on her laptop while traveling, and Libaux found her interpretation so perfect that he chose not to re-record the track in a proper studio, stating "I can't even understand how Inara managed to deliver such mixed feelings (emotion, loneliness, beauty, hope and concern) in one take." Other performers include award winning Korean jazz singer Youn Sun Nah, acclaimed American singer-songwriter Alela Diane, and many more.
Olivier Libaux founded French pop group Les Objets and co-founded
Nouvelle Vague with Marc Collin in 2004. Les Objets released two albums and was a critical success in France with two music videos directed by Michel Gondry. Of Nouvelle Vague's self-titled first album, NPR said "In its own quiet way, the juxtaposition of sunny music and aching lyrics makes [the covers] work as well as the originals." The commercial success of the album allowed the band to tour extensively. Numerous
Nouvelle Vague covers have been featured in film and television. Their cover of Modern English's "I Melt with You" was including the 2005 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith and television shows including "The Hills," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" as well as advertisements for GMC, Vicks and T-Mobile. Libaux has also released two critically successful solo albums and has collaborated with artists such as Carla Bruni, Alex Gopher, Emilie Simon and Helena Noguerra.
Olivier Libaux, Uncovered Queens of the Stone Age Tracklisting
River In The Road performed by Rosemary Standley
Medication performed by Katharine Whalen
Burn The Witch performed by Clare Manchon
No One Knows performed by Inara George
In My Head performed by Susan Dillane
3's and 7's performed by Skye
Tangled Up In Plaid performed by Gaby Moreno
The Blood Is Love performed by
Ambrosia Parsley
Running Joke performed by Youn Sun Nah
Hangin' Tree performed by Inara George
Go With The Flow performed by Emiliana Torrini
I Never Came performed by Alela Diane
Photo credit: Corbis/Geraldine Petrovic
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