Arthur Fu Bandini straddles the border between pop and rock, with inspirations borrowed from French chanson, sometimes recalling the voice of Léo Ferré (thus Arthur Teboul of Feu! Chatterton). In the studio, the artist takes an introspective approach, writing and composing with a guitar, a synth and his voice to set his hesitations, feelings and resilience to music. The result was a debut single, L’Être à vous, released last year, followed by several French dates. This time, it’s at La Boule Noire that you’ll have to watch him, determined to bring his French chanson back to center stage.
Montreal band Atsuko Chiba likes to take its time. On stage, as on their latest album Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing (composed in times of pandemic, with stretched-out tracks often exceeding five minutes), you have to grasp the soaring dimension the band instills, against a backdrop of post-rock and exhilarating psychedelic sprays. Attaching as much importance to the music as to everything around it, from projected videos to lighting effects, everything is brought together to let go and send the audience into their universe. After a series of North American tours and a few dates across the Channel, Atsuko Chiba is back in the French capital.
For almost ten years now, they’ve been taking their audiences to arid, twilight lands, on dark, psychedelic explorations bordering on the sepulchral. Formed in Toronto in 2015, Hot Garbage like to set the scene for an age in turmoil, with fuzzed-out guitars, dark organs and impenetrable vocals. It’s a sonic blend that’s particularly evident on the recent Precious Dream (2024), crafted alongside producer Graham Walsh. Alessandro Carlevaris (guitar), his sister Juliana (bass), Dylan Gamble (keyboards) and Mark Henein (drums) will be taking to the Inrocks Super Club stage, having already performed in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., among others.