Columbine : Cache Cache

A controversial new video by Rennes-based hip hop act Columbine, the first track to emerge ahead of their new album expected later this year.

Columbine released their Enfants Terribles album last year, a collection that has already earned them a gold disc, and they are wasting no time in releasing a follow up.

The video for Cache-Cache ("Hide and seek" in English)  is a strange and quietly disturbing piece, making reference to school shootings. The school prom setting is a scene familiar to anyone who has ever seen an American TV show or film, the members of the band on stage and showing no emotion or involvement whatsoever, the conclusion apparently being a romantic happy ending where the shooter finds love.

It's an ambiguous work with many possible interpretations, all the more so as the act's name obviously makes reference to the infamous American school shooting.

Are they trivialising very real and very tragic events?

How should we react to artists who apparently remain passive in the face of these kind of events?

Do the performers in the video represent a government that fails to intervene?

Does the entertainment industry with its stylised portrayal of violence play a part?

What part do gender stereotypes play in these incidents?

Would an American artist make a video like this and what kind of criticism would they face?

Many questions. It's a video that provokes some difficult reflection.

Columbine's album is released inn the autumn, and they have tour dates across France from October, including two shows at the Olympia in Paris on October 23 and 24.