Carré is a French band based in Los Angeles, California. Blending aggressive, dark, and chaotic elements with hypnotic drum loops inspired by the electronic French Touch, Carré creates a language that’s not necessarily bound to a structure. Instead, it’s a journey.
With lyrics that highlight an element of provocation, and freedom of perception, their latest single plays directly into everything they stand for as a band.
“Turn Down the Choir,” have you submerged in a myriad of electronically casted-out elements that form a unique soundscape that is unlike any other. With a brooding sense of anticipation that propels through the speakers, you’re exposed to a multidimensional universe that takes over in a progressive manner. The various layers that surface have you eager to delve into the depth of “Turn Down the Choir” in a way that releases a miscellany of emotions and thought.
From moments of laid-back finesse to the funk-inspired psychedelia that is depicted by the song's integrity, we admire the fact that the complexity of a record as such continues to keep you on your toes while weaving you into the soundscape in a personal manner.
Pairing the sonic component with our own canvas of introspection, we love how Carré presents their artistry to its flourishing audience. Even though the heavy synth layers and timely percussion patterns, we hear the simplicity of their souls that get intertwined with larger-than-life ideas coming to life.
A huge congratulations on the unique ambiance cast out in “Turn Down the Choir.” There’s something so exclusive about the sound that you deliver, and we’re here for it! Could you please shine a light on how this creative concept was birthed?
The "CARRÉ" concept was birthed in 2019 between myself (Keveen, guitar/synth/vocal) and Jules (co-producer/mixer/drummer) when we started to think of developing a project that blends the aggressivity of our rock n roll Anglo-Saxon influences mixed with the tightness and danciness aspect of the French electronic music scene. Came to the equation Julien (another drummer that lives in Paris FRANCE) to form the band and start flushing out the concept, called "CARRÉ" (meaning "square" in French and meaning playing tight as well). The square is an extension of the perception of a binary and non-binary reality.
In your own words, what is the deeper meaning of this record? How does the message heard in “Turn Down the Choir” play into your overall music catalog?
This song is a stand-alone single. At least as of right now. It might be a part of a second EP release or a first LP next year, but for now, it acts as a bridge between our sound on the first EP (released during the summer of 2020) and the few new songs we have to be coming out in 2022.
It does have a similar approach to the other songs we already put out, in the sense of conception, the abstractness quality of it, and the lack of a general structure but more so a journey through someone's perception. "Turn Down the Choir" is associated with the idea that as much as you try to turn off those voices in your head or avoid the obvious signs crossing your path, they will keep appearing until you realize their presence and embrace them. The lyrics of CARRÉ always have room to be interpreted the way you wish to hear. Music for me is like photography in the quote of Diane Arbus: "A photograph is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know".
In terms of getting assistance with the final vision, sound, and release of this track, was there anyone assisting you in the behind-the-scenes aspect?
The band is the 3 of us (Keveen Baudouin, Jules de Gaperis, Julien Boyé) : 2 drummers and a guitar/synth/vocalist. We share all the work as far as the creative concept, the writing, and the producing. Each person having their specific strength. The mixing aspect is a more of "forte" of Jules.
What do you aim to make your audience feel through the music you create?
We want the audience to get lost in our music; whether it is through dance for some songs or dreaminess for other ones or even through some psychedelic abstract qualities of our sound. Music is here to be shared and especially be perceived the way each person is willing to perceive it. "Art belongs to everybody and nobody. Art belongs to all time and no time. Art belongs to those who create it and those who savor it" Julian Barnes.
What's next for you?
We are trying to film a live session in-studio before the end of the year until we're able to bring CARRÉ on stage in front of people (which hasn't happened yet). We're also working on a remix of a song from a band I'm involved with called Low Hum, that will be released before the end of 2021. Then we'll work our way to new singles, a second EP, or our first full length for 2022.