Earlier this year, Francophone cold wave singer Lescop (aka French-born Mathieu Peudupin) released his eponymous debut album on Pop Noire, the label run by Jehnny Beth of Savages. The album mined early 80s references and polished its hooks to a cool sheen, and now Dazed premieres a keen-edged live video for record opener "La Forêt", directed by Antoine Carlier. Stream the video, and read a personal introduction to Lescop from Jehnny Beth, who directed the original 2011 video for the song.
Jehnny Beth: "Lescop was the first artist released on Pop Noire records. I've known him since I was a teenager. As I grew up he used to send me mix tapes of Shellac, the Smiths, Lou Reed, Iggy, Bowie...that was my first touch with rock'n'roll. It was also him who introduced me to Johnny Hostile (Savages producer) when I was 19. Years later, when he started working with Johnny on his solo project in London, I was hanging around the studio all the time. I was assisting on technical stuff, which was great because I learnt a lot of things. I filmed the sessions too, I made the (original) video for "La Forêt" that way. It seemed natural to be involved so much at the time. When the music was ready, me and Johnny thought it would be a great idea to start our own label and release it ourselves, that's how Pop Noire was formed. It was very much a team effort, we all felt part of a family."
Lescop's self-titled debut album is out now on Pop Noire. He headlines OohLaLa Festival on October 24, with support from Tomorrow's World and Christine and The Queens.
