Nouvelle Vague is French Musical Collective led by multi-instrumentalists Oliver Libaux and Marc Collin. The name of the band is derived from a play on words that refer their ‘Frenchness’ and ‘Artiness’ of their music. Their songs are cover versions of classic punk rock, post-punk and new wave tracks, however, they are re-worked in to 60’s Bossa Nova style arrangements: Bossa Nova meaning ‘new wave’ or ‘new beat’ in Portuguese.

For their self-titled debut, their idea was to forget the initial punk or new wave background of each song; they kept the simple fundamental chords, and worked with young female vocalists (six French, one Brazilian and one New Yorker) who had never heard the original versions that came from bands such as The Clash, Joy Division and The Cure.

The outfit’s second album, ‘A Bande a Part’ saw Nouvelle Vague re-work tracks such as ‘Ever Fallen in Love’ by the Buzzcocks, ‘Blue Monday’ by New Order and ‘Heart of Glass by Blondie’. The album arrived in the summer of 2006 to critical acclaim, eventually selling over 200,000 copies, earning the band stage space at festivals and venues across the world. Several Nouvelle Vague songs, including ‘In a Manner of Speaking’, ‘Just Can't Get Enough’, and ‘Teenage Kicks’ have since been used in the Channel 4 drama Sugar Rush. Their versions of ‘Just Can't Get Enough’ and ‘Teenage Kicks’ have also been used in adverts in the UK.

The following year saw the band return with an album entitled ‘Coming Home’ - a collection of songs from films given the Nouvelle Vague treatment. ‘New Wave’, a collection of covers by new wave artists, also arrived in the latter part of 2007, with the collection of tracks considered as a quirky, fascinating and illuminating insight into the wonderful world of new wave. 2008 will see the outfit tour the world once again, with a stop at Manchester Academy 2 on Tuesday 2nd December.