With a rotating cast of sultry songstresses, Nouvelle Vague takes New Wave classics from the ‘80s and gives them an elegant bossa nova twist. Having seduced the early afternoon crowds at last year’s V Festival with covers of New Order and Blondie, band members Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin are returning for some more intimate soirees this weekend.

In the time between visits, Libaux wrote a solo album Imbecile, which is to be accompanied by an intimate stage performance. The characters on the album are four friends who gather for a dinner party, gradually revealing truths about their personalities. ITM’s Jack Tregoning spoke to Libaux about that very French project, and his other non-stop life in Nouvelle Vague.

What does the word Imbecile mean in the context of the album?

The first meaning of the word is obviously “silly”, a bit stupid. But also it’s rather naïve. It’s not a bad word, because nowadays in French you could call someone an “imbecile” and it’s not a bad word. It just means someone is naïve, they don’t know enough. Because the people on the record don’t know that much about life and love. And all the songs are talking about all the events in a lifetime that you can’t anticipate. With love, with death, everything – there are things you cannot anticipate. The people here are naïve about that.

It seems there’s definitely a darker edge to your solo work…

Yes. But apart from what I’ve been seeing, there is also plenty of humour on the record. I guess you can’t understand the lyrics, but it’s not that serious! In one song, someone is speaking about death and it’s not that, err, deep. And when we perform it people laugh. It’s funny somehow, not that serious. It’s a bit like Nouvelle Vague. Sometimes the songs are dark, but when we perform them they turn into something surprising, funny or catchy. I like this – staying between the very light and very dark.

In a sense, Nouvelle Vague is still a relatively young project, having begun in 2003. Are you still learning things about how your collaborator, Marc Collin, works?

Well, the whole thing started with Marc very spontaneously in 2003. We wanted to do covers of songs we loved. It has been a never-ending tour, so we have grown very quickly. Nouvelle Vague is now a band that’s playing all the time, in every country in the world. So it’s become more difficult to work in the way we did at the beginning. The project in itself is heavier than in the past.

Sometimes we get very tired. But we are very much looking forward to playing in Australia in March, having played for you last March at V Festival. I wasn’t onstage with that tour, but I did come in July.

When I’ve seen you live, the cover versions you performed seemed tailored to the feel of the night – the city you’re in, the response from the crowd. How do you go about picking the songs?

Well, it’s a long story. Each time it’s a mix of songs we loved when we were teenagers. You must remember Nouvelle Vague was started by two people who are 40-years-old, so we were listening to all this New Wave when we were teenagers. We are huge fans of this period. So now with a bit of experience, we have turned into musicians who love the idea of making a cover. So the best results come from working with a song we really enjoyed when we were young. We enjoy especially when the result is surprising or funny, and creates something new.

So you’re often pleasantly surprised by how that New Wave sound can work with Nouvelle Vague’s bossa nova twist?

Generally, yes. If we are not surprised with bossa nova, we’ll just try something different. Perhaps try it in a Caribbean style. We can work inside the concept. The most important thing is to be fresh.

What in particular can we expect from the shows in March?

I have such good memories of playing in Sydney and Melbourne. The gigs were really great, so we hope the same people come again to see us!

Nouvelle Vague will bring back the New Wave alongside DJ $olal and Filip Wauters at the following dates:

Saturday 1 March – The Metro Theatre, Sydney
Sunday 2 March – Prince Bandroom, Melbourne
Monday 3 March – Manchester Lane (off Flinders Lane), Melbourne

And check em out performing Love Will Tear Us Apart live…