The Invisible Bordeaux spirit is alive and well and is once again to be found on Slowrush's new EP, The Story Starts... ! Indeed, as loyal readers know, lately the musical project Slowrush has taken precedence over the Invisible Bordeaux blog in terms of time and energy. But that's not to say that the two projects don't feed off each other. In fact, three songs from the fifth collection released by our Britpop trio are directly inspired by topics covered on the blog in the past... we give you slow tourism in music!
On this new EP, the musical journey begins with the discovery of the city's “Twin City Gardens”, which are slowly crumbling away in the Barails ecological reserve north of Bordeaux. With its acoustic folk-pop mood, the track is an invitation to "voyage on the spot", providing instant changes of scenery without having to move very fat at all anywhere, as the music video on Youtube demonstrates.
The Britpop-tinged “Degrees of Separation” revisits the career of Brooklyn-born musician and songwriter Mort Shuman, who is buried in Bordeaux-Caudéran, and evokes Slowrush's pride in sharing the story of the man behind "Save The Last Dance", "Viva Las Vegas", "Papa Tango Charly" and so many other classics, as part of the musical revue we occasionally present, namely our side project The Shuman Show!
In just a few verses, “The Story Starts (With a Bass Guitar)” tells the astonishing story of Gilles Bertin, bassist with Bordeaux punk band Camera Silens in the 1980s, before he was involved in a robbery and fled to Portugal and then Spain. After 30 years on the run, Bertin sought to redeem himself and rebuild his identity from scratch, before his death from illness at the age of 58. This track, with its hypnotic bass line, is one of the most hard-hitting and ambitious in Slowrush's repertoire.
The EP closes with a much quieter song that doesn't deal with a Gironde theme, but whose title is nonetheless a nod to France: “Amie Mon Amie”. Largely instrumental, this melancholy number has a special atmosphere, thanks in particular to the presence of the voice of Olivier's wife Elise Rols, who adds an unexpected dimension to the track, whose lyrics are the work of long-time friend John Parker. The accompanying video is based on an American home movie from the 1940s.
The four songs on The Story Starts... were mixed and mastered by Sylvio Arrondo from Klarkson Mixing Studios in the south of Gironde. The cover, not that far removed from the visuals produced by Belle and Sebastian or The Smiths, is a curious 1950s photo taken on the beach at Great Yarmouth in south-east England. Holding the microphone, the very well-dressed evangelical pastor Robert Fairnie is preaching or praying for his young audience!You can listen to the EP on Slowrush's Bandcamp page or swherever you stream your music by clicking here... or via the player below. Enjoy and be sure to catch our live shows in 2025!
> Further reading: check out Jugeote's introduction to Slowrush and to The Story Starts...!