Quentin Sauvé, the prolific member of a number of great French hardcore bands, including AS WE DRAW, BIRDS IN ROW, CALVAIIRE, THE BRUTAL DECEIVER, is returning next year with his new solo record, a natural follow-up to his acoustic/indie project THROW ME OFF THE BRIDGE. His new songs are minimalistic, but they carry an intimate, emotional weight that’s, paradoxically, at times louder and stronger than his heavier offerings. Quentin recorded his new tracks in live session at Le 6PAR4 in Laval, France, and today we’re pleased to share the new track “Ghosts”, which softly fuses acoustic rock with indie folk and unveils something joyful that yields more with every listen.
“Ghosts” is featured on a new 2-track EP, alongside previously released single “Half Empty Glass”. The debut EP from Quentin Sauvé debuts today at this location.
Here’s what Quentin had to say about the content behind “Ghosts”:
This track is a parallel between the things/people I shouldn’t take for granted (in this case it’s my partner) and the things/sicknesses that I will have to carry all my life (in this particular case, it’s a tinnitus that I’ve got for 2 years now). It’s about wasting the time I spend with her, “failing her” by focusing too much on these noises in my head, these “ghosts” bothering me, making me angry. I felt cursed back then but eventually I told myself : what if it’s a gift? A reminder to help focus on the good things, to remember to take care and pay attention to the people that I love.
Asked about his background and inspirations to pursue a solo project, he added:
I come from the DIY punk Hardcore scene, played in several bands, and 8 years ago I started composing songs alone, on an old acoustic guitar, and write lyrics on my personal life, that’s how “Throw Me Off The Bridge” was born. It has been really hard to enjoy playing alone at first, also because it was hard to sing what I wrote, until the moment I finally understood how to use it as an exorcism, and then it felt like the best.
This project became a full-band 4 years ago (I fit in Birds In Row at that time as well). It was really interesting and rewarding to be able to play live all the arrangements from the records, but last year the guys couldn’t keep on. I decided to keep on playing alone and started composing new songs, but after 2 solo LP and 2 full-band EP as TMOTB, all this started to feel too much on my mind and too heavy on my heart. I will always have to put my guts and soul into something, and to share my experiences, but I needed a fresh start, a new beginning. So “Quentin Sauvé” is the logical follow-up of TMOTB, a reset with everything I learned from the shows and records I’ve done, the people I met, played with, and made friends with.
Directed and edited by Yann-Maël Le Roy, assisted by Floriant Renault. Recorded and mixed by Thomas Dilis. Mastered by Amaury Sauvé at “The Apiary” studio.
“Ghost” lyrics:
I failed her
Out of my sight
Making my heart grow fonder
Trying to do what’s rightI failed her
Out of my mouth
Words overstepped, went further
Much more than my thoughtsThese are for ever, yet, she’s not
A constant reminder of all I could have lost
A gift or a curseSo I figured out later
Talking down, crossing the line
That i’m no good to her
I am a lieSo I failed her
But not like anyone else
Cause she’s not like most
No she’s not my ghostsThese are for ever, yet, she’s not
A constant reminder of all I could have lost
A gift or a curseThese are for ever…
Not thirty candles on his birthday cake and yet Quentin seems like he’s lived multiple musical lives. After discovering punk and metal in his schoolboy days and officiating in a band before he even reached the teens, he followed suit with passionate activism and endless touring around the globe as part of several angry acts, firmly anchored in the DIY philosophy (As we Draw, The Brutal Deceiver, Birds in Row…).
It’s 2011 when he decides to branch away towards his blend of post hardcore infused acoustic folk under the various forms of the Throw me off the Bridge moniker. At first an intimate solo adventure, he is soon joined by band mates and the increasingly rich and colorful arrangements they brought with them. After more than 300 (house)shows and festival appearances, “Quentin Sauvé” is back to his solitaire roots through a pared-down voice and guitar dyad, carefully balancing elegiac chords and untethered, impassioned vocals. In pure folk fashion, Quentin’s songwriting will continue to divulge its melodic treasures with every play. – Maxime Héaumé
“Half Empty Glass”, the first new song from the same live session, was released earlier this year:
