Paris’ Alt-rockers Storm Orchestra Reveal “Crush The Mirrors” feat. Bertrand Poncet (Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!)
14th November 2024Paris’ alt-rockers Storm Orchestra revealed the video for the high-octane new single “Crush the Mirrors” featuring Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! vocalist Bertrand Poncet.“Crush the Mirrors” sees the band harvest the heavier side of their arsenal whilst still retaining their ability to craft a stadium-filling chorus. On the song, they are joined by Bertrand Poncet from French hardcore-pop-punk crossover heroes Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! who lends his guttural vocals to the anthemic track.
“This song really departs from what we’ve been doing the last few years. The tone, theme and overall vibe is way darker; I’d even say there is an inner violence to it,” says singer-guitarist Maxime Goudard. “We can feel that it’s harder to play at the energy level it requires, physically speaking. Guitars are tricky; the main drumbeat is a bit odd, and there are lots of different emotions, especially on the bridge. Lyrics are the most introspective we’ve written as a band. The first few parts were written at the end of 2022, and it was a challenging period for some of us.”
It’s the first time the band has collaborated with another artist. “We are so happy and proud that this song features Bert as producer, co-writer and performer. What he achieved with C!NCC! has been massively inspirational for many bands, including us, in the French alternative scene.”
Regarding the collaboration, Poncet – who has also been producing the band from their early days – says, “We knew we wanted to do a song together, so it’s no surprise it finally happened. This song was the perfect occasion. This is a peculiar song on this album. I felt they were trying to get out of their comfort zone, and I thought there was something to play to “shock” the audience even more, and that’s how I approached it here. At first, we thought it would be more of a filler song, but it seemed more special than that. There’s a very interesting progression. Notably, it becomes very melodic and airy on the bridge. I felt transported and thought the next part should be the opposite. That’s where we did this stuff to grab the audience by the throat and bring them six (or a thousand) feet underground. I like to see a song as a voyage, and this one is exactly that.”
The video was shot with Julien Metternich, who captured them in a raw and back-to-the-basics environment. Filmed as a one-sequence shot, entirely unedited, surrounded by amps and a few lights. “We had to do it several times to get the perfect shot. It turns out the last one of the day was the right one: you can witness tiredness and suffering, and I can tell you Julien and the crew were feeling exactly the same,” remembers Goudard.
They have recently released the single for “Drummer“, which has picked up an incredible amount of playlisting across Amazon, Deezer, Tidal and Spotify, including bagging New Music Friday’s Global as well as NMF USA, UK, Australia/New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Mexico and Egypt as well as playlisting in Spain and Japan.
The song has connected with fans across the globe. Talking about the song singer-guitarist Maxime Goudard says, “This song is a fun one that we wrote a few years ago. It’s inspired by some antics, stories from friends, and our very own Drummer.”
“Drummer” followed the metallic alt-rock “Bright Soul,” in which Goudard opens up about his fear of letting his dark side take over the person he wants to be.
Longtime friends Maxime Goudard (vocals, guitar), Adrien Richard (bass), and Loïc Fouquet’s (drums) euphoric grandiosity have seen them emerge as one of the most exciting bands on the Paris music scene. As a then-unsigned band, they picked up an impressive combined 4M streams at the end of last year, ending 2023 in a triumphant fashion as the “Artist to Watch in 2024” by Spotify France and in the Top of the Rock: Best of 2023 and Deezer’s 2023 Rock playlists.
They’ve captured lightning in a bottle and are selling out clubs across France, shone on the festival circuit, captivated crowds on a tour of Germany in September with Lonely Spring and announced themselves on the big stage when they opened for Black Stone Cherry at L’Olympia, Paris earlier in November.
Light and dark, euphoria and heaviness, glamour and aggression – Storm Orchestra are here to be your new favourite band.
