Indochine: Sanna Sur La Croix video

A new video from Indochine, marking the end of 2025 and the start of a new year. A video for the track No Name emerged two months ago, and now it's the turn of the song Sanna Sur La Croix, both from the 2024 album Babel Babel.

Sanna Sur La Croix is dedicated to former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, a political leader who Indochine singer Nicola Sirkis voiced his admiration for. During her term in office footage of her at a private party was leaked, which led to opposition right-wing politicians to call for her to undergo drugs tests. Marin was strongly opposed to Putin's invasion of Ukraine and led Finland to become a member of NATO.

The voice at the beginning of the video is Marin, explaining "I am a human being. And I too, sometimes want joy, light and fun in the middle of these dark clouds. 

"And that involves all kinds of photos and videos that I wouldn't want to see, and yet they're showing them to all of us. It’s private, it’s joy and it’s life."

The band are plain in their support for Marin in the song, and the unfairness of those who criticised her, who they say did not deserve her.

The band performs on the back of a lorry in the Finnish capital Helsinki, the footage interspersed with brief live clips of Indochine playing at Bercy in Paris.

Indochine have toured pretty relentlessly in 2025 and have dates in January, February and March this year to bring their arena tour to a close, including an astonishing eight dates at the Accor Arena in Paris. Meanwhile, the Babel Babel album has sold over a quarter of a million copies since its release.

It's kind of funny to see a crowd of maybe two dozen people applaud the band at the end of the performance in Helsinki, given the size of the audiences the band has played to during their latest tour. 

Indochine and Christine and the Queens: 3SEX

Black Friday this year won't have any deal as good as this two-for-one from Indochine and Christine and the Queens.

They take a song from Indochine's back catalogue and give it a 21st century revision. There's a slight change to the title - from 3e sexe to 3SEX - and a slightly more significant overhaul of the music, strippping away the very 80s stylings of the original and creating something far more contemporary. 

Speaking about the collaboration, Christine said: "Last April, Nicola Sirkis called me and told me about revisiting 3e sexe.

"The whole world was breathing more slowly and my heart started pounding because this song tells something that is very personal to me, something that makes me want to be free. 

"Thank you Nicola for giving me the honour and the confidence to sing 3SEX with you, at a time when the very word freedom takes on all its meaning and urgency.

"Real revolutions never die."

 The song originally featured on Indochine's 1985 album 3, and was widely taken as an anthem to tolerance with regard to sexuality. 

 The new version of the song will feature on the forthcoming Indochine compilation Singles Collection (1981-2001), due out on December 11.

Indochine: Song for a Dream

A new video by Indochine, with a big budget treatment for the track Song for a dream, from their 13 album.

For such an unapologetically rock number, it's a filmic video without much reference to the band members. Something of a surprise too, as the band were expected to release the track Gloria featuring Asia Argento as a single. Perhaps recent events involving the actor led to it being put on hold for the moment.

It has been a landmark 12 months for Indochine, 13 being released in September 2017. A number one album in France and elsewhere in mainland Europe, the singles Un été francais and La vie est belle getting massive attention. Station 13 was released as a single just last month.

The album has been one of the band's biggest sellers. Not bad for a band that has been around since 1981.

Song for a Dream has emerged as one of the favourite tracks on the album, fans getting the chance to experience it live during the extensive touring they've done to promote the album.

Indochine have more live dates in November and December, including three shows at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris on November 14, 16 and 17.

Garorock Festival

This weekend sees another of France's major music festivals taking place, with Garorock being held over four nights in Marmonde in the south west of France.

The event kicked off last night with a headline set from Indochine, along with performances from Django Django, Angele and a DJ set from Joris Delacroix among others.

Tonight's big names are Marilyn Manson and Orelsan, Saturday includes DJ Snake, Nekfeu and Charlotte Gainsbourg, while Sunday features Macklemore, Tryo, and MGMT.

While there are many international acts, among the dozens of others on the bill over the weekend are Therapie Taxi, Roméo Elvis. L'Impératrice and Petit Fantome.

Garorock features many more emerging artists than some of the big festivals, and selects the kind of  bill capable of drawing around 100,000 revellers every year.

It's come a long way from its urban rock and punk roots, but remains the kind of event that attracts some of the biggest names in French music as well as some of the artists that will be featuring elsewhere over the next few years.

Indochine: Un été français

A new single from Indochine one of France's most successful rock acts, with a video that gives a breathtaking view of Paris from a vantage point from the roof of the Grande Arche de la Défense on the outskirts of the city.

For all the Grande Arche is one of the capital's most recognisable landmarks, the viewing deck of the 110m tall structure was closed to the public for a number of years. La Défense was constructed as a home for many of France's top businesses and a place where international companies could build their office spaces on the edge of Paris.

The video makes the most of the area's modern strangeness, with its obvious nods towards both the Beatles on the roof of Abbey Road or U2's Where the Streets Have No Name video.

You can't help but wonder what those performances might have looked like if the same drone filming technology had been available in those days. And if they'd had more fireworks.

The song itself is a powerful piece that features on the recent Indochine album 13, Nicola Sirkis inspired by events in the 2017 election that saw the Front National through to the second round of the presidential elections.

Indochine are in the middle of a massive tour with arena dates ahead of outdoor shows this summer, and a second round of shows later in the year including two nights at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris on November 16 and 17.

Indochine: La vie est belle

A notification from Indochine HQ this week that one of France's biggest rock groups is back in action, with a single, new album and tour on the horizon.

Since the 90s, Indochine have been one of the country's biggest rock acts, with a commercial and artistic credibility that few can equal. It's hard to think of an Anglo equivalent to indochine, the closest would be someone like U2, a post-punk act who went on to fill stadiums, but unlike U2 they never became a parody of what once made them great.

Indochine's last studio album was 2013's Black City Parade, a number one album in France that included the track College Boy, a tarck that showed that even a band that had been around for a few decades was still capable of raising difficult and controversial questions.

Their subsequent tours supporting the album saw them play two shows at the Stade de France, as well as a gig in London. Two live albums, Black City Tour and Black City Concerts documented the dates, both collections reaching the top ten.

So some new materiais quite a big deal, and the band unveiled their new track on prime time French TV show Quotidien avec Yann Barthes.

Their new track La vie est belle come from their forthcoming 13th album, which is due to appear on September 8.

They've confirmed a tour of arenas in France in February 2018, with a show at the Zénith on Paris on February 16 and 17. Tickets go on sale on June 21.

Indochine: Live at Le Trianon

A special gig tonight at Le Trianon in Paris, as Indochine mark the release of their new live collection
 Black City Concert with an intimate show.

The live album/DVD/Blu Ray/Box Set was recorded in June last year at the band's two show at the Stade de France, tonight sees them take to the stage of the historic theatre with a capacity of just over 1,000.

Indochine toured extensively following the release of  Black City Parade in 2013. There were three legs of the tour from February 2013 until June 2014, with sold-out shows at arenas throughout France and beyond. It was followed festival dates that summer including a show in London.

This year Indochine have played sold-out club shows at eight European cities.

A live album Black City Tour, documenting their gigs in Brussels on March 2014 came out in December last year in  2CD, DVD and Blu Ray versions.

However the new release should be a pretty different affair.

Indochine : Alice & June (live)

A new clip by Indochine for the track Alice & June, ahead of the release of their forthcoming live
collection documenting their two recent shows at the Stade de France.

Black City Concert is released on December 4 in multiple formats covering the two shows the veteran band played at the national stadium in Paris during their Black City Tour, a tour that ran for over a year promoting the release of their Black City Parade collection

The band played extensively on the back of that release, and ensured their reputation as one of France's most significant rock acts ever.

They've already released one live collection from the tour, Black City Tour, released last year. But there's clearly a massive demand for more live material from a hugely successful tour.

Alice & June featured on the special delux edition of Black City Concert.

Indochine play a special show at the Trianon in Paris on December 9.

Jacques Dutronc and Nicola Sirkis: L'opportuniste

A revival of a Jacques Dutronc song L'opportuniste by Dutronc himself and Indochine singer Nicola
Sirkis has emerged as a single and video.

The track comes out ahead of an album of covers of Dutronc numbers, to be released at the end of March to celebrate his 70th birthday.

L'opportuniste was originally the title track of an Dutronc album from 1968, the song again becomong popuar in the early 90s with the release of the Dutronc live collection Dutronc au Casino.

Dutronc was always one of France's most skilled songwriters, and his mocking of the ways of the politician has not really aged at all.

In November last year Dutronc toook to the stage in Paris alongside Eddie Mitchell and Johny Hallyday under the name Vieilles Canailles, for a run of sold-out shows at Bercy.

The album Joyeux anniversaire M'sieur Dutronc comes out on March 30.

Indochine: Europe City Club Tour

More live activity from French rockers Indochine, with the announcement of the Europe City Club Tour that sees the band play eight shows in venues across Europe.

They are to play in Barcelona, Milan, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, ANversn and Amsterdam.

No French dates, and the venues are much smaller than the previous sized arenas that they played across France and elsewhere in 2013 and 2014. This tour saw they playing two nights at the Stade de France, and even bringing their live show to London.

Their Brussels show was released last month as a live album and DVD, and singer Nicola Sirkis unveiled a new song for a Jacques Dutronc album to be released to mark his 70th birthday.

L'Opportuniste sees the Indochine frontman duet with with the French music legend.

Tickets for the new tour on sale on January 30.

Indochine: Le fond de l'air est rouge

A live video by French rock legends Indochine,  with the track Le fond de l'air est rouge from their recent live collection.

The track comes from their  Black city tour collection, released earlier this month.

It documents the band's tour, focussing on their gig at the  Palais 12 in Brussels in March this year. It's available as a double CD and DVD/Blu Ray.

The Black City Tour saw the band play extensively across France ans elsewhere from February 2013 until August this year, with dates in Zénith arenas, two nights at the Stade de France in  June and a show in London in July.

 Le fond de l'air est rouge featured on the Black City Parade studio album, the band's 12th studio alum, which came out in 2013.

The collection showed without a doubt that Indochine remain a significant force in French music,  gathering both critical and commercial approval and selling over 100,000 copies along the way.

Emmanuelle Seigner: Marche à l'ombre

A new album of artists covering the songs of Renaud is due out next month the collection La Bande à
 Renaud 2 following up the success of the previous album.

La Bande à Renaud tribute album came out earlier this year and reached the top of the French album charts, and featured artists such as Coeur de Pirate with a memorable cover of Mistral gagnant,
Nicola Sirkis from Indochine performing Hexagone, as well as Benjamin Biolay, Carla Bruni, Nolwenn Leroy and Grand Corps Malade.

The first tack to emerge in full from the new album is Emmanuelle Seigner singing Marche à l'ombre, the title track of Renaud's 1980 album.

Seigner's most recent release was her Distant Lover album that came out earlier this year. She's best known as an actress, having had  long career including films like  Place Vendôme and La Vie En Rose. She's also the wife of director Roman Polanski.

The new album will feature contributions from  Olivia Ruiz, Thomas Dutronc, , Benjamin Siksou, Louane and Emily Loizeau and others , while Nicola Sirkis , Renan Luce, Benjamin Biolay  and Nolwenn Leroy appear again having featured on the first volume.

Festival: Vielles Charrues

Another festival weekend in France, and this week the spotlight falls in the Vielles Charrues festival in
Brittany.

The four day event sees dozens of acts, both French and international, play across three stages.

It's the 23rd time the event's been held and its grown to be a festival that attracts some of the biggest   musical names.

The first day sees Vanessa Paradis headline the Glenmor stage, The Black Keys and Indochine also play.

Other stages host Skip the use, Fauve, Francois and the Atlas Mountains, Christne and the Queens and others.

Friday sees Tinariwen headline the Glenmor stade, with Elton John, Stromae and Gesaffelstein also there.

The three other stages, the Kerouac, Grall and Gwernig see the likes of Miossec, Franz Ferdinand, Casseurs Flowters and others.

The Saturday sees Breton, Détroit, Arctic Monkeys and Shaka Ponk on the main stage, Julien Doré amongt those on the other stages.

The final day sees Ky-Mani Marley, Christophe, Lily Allen and Thirty SEconds to Mars on the Glenmor stage, and the likes  Yodelice, Girls in Hawaii, Etienne Daho, Kavinsky and Von Pariahs elsewhere.

All in all, an event that not only attracts some of the biggest names, but hasn't forgotten its local roots and culture.

Live in London: Indochine

With France celebrating its national day, it's a good opportunity for those in London to experience one of the
country's top rock acts play live.

Indochine play at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, a rare UK date for the band who recently played two nights at the Stade de France in Paris.

The band's last performance at the Stade de France was recorded for their Putain de Stade DVD, they were the first rock act to play there, and I'd be surprised if a live recording from their current tour doesn't emerge at some point in the near future.

Indochine are the kind of band that know the value of a live show and the opportunity to catch them in London is one worth seizing.

A new video, for the track Taxi Girl from their  Black City Parade album was released earlier this month.

Indochine have been playing live extensively to support their most recent album release, Black City Parade, and also play the Vielles Charrues festival in Brittany on July 17.

Renaud: La Bande à Renaud Versions Originales

A recent tribute album La Bande à Renaud takes songs by French singer Renaud and sees them re-
interpreted by other artists.

These kind of collections have proved hugely popular in France in recent years, with the Génération Goldmancollections selling thousands of copies. Of course, while evidently a worthwhile commercial proposition, they also serve to introduce a new audience to the work of one of France's finest songwriters and performers.

I thought the release merited a look at the Vesions Originales of the songs, as they were performed by Renaud Séchan himself.

Manu: A track from Renaud's 1981 Le Retour de Gérard Lambert album. The version on the album is sung by Jean-Louis Aubert



Mistral gagnant: The title track from his 1985 album. It's proved to be one of his most durable songs, with several artist covering it over the years since. The La Bande à Renaud version is performed by Cœur de Pirate, and made it into the top 20 as a single.



La pêche à la ligne: Another track from the 1985 Mistral gagnant collection. On La Bande à Renaud it is sung by Bénabar.



Laisse béton: The title track from his 1977 album. The new version is by rapper Disiz.



Il pleut: A track from his 1988 Putain de camion album. Élodie Frégé performs a version on the Bande à Renaud album.



Chanson pour Pierrot: A track from his 1979 Ma gonzesse album.  The  Bande à Renaud album features a cover by Raphaël.



Hexagone: One of the songs that made Renaud famous, a track from his 1975 debut album Amoureux de Paname. Nicola Sirkis, the singer with Indochine, performs the version that appears on  La Bande à Renaud.



Deuxième génération: A song from his 1983 Morgane de Toi album The new compilation features a version by Benjamin Biolay.



La ballade nord-irlandaise: A track that featured on his Marchand de cailloux album from 1991, and also appeared on his 2009 Molly Malone – Balade irlandaise album, his most recent release. La Bande à Renaud features a version by Nolwenn Leroy



En cloque: Another track from the 1983 Morgane de toi album. The cover on the Bande à Renaud album is by Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine.



C'est quand qu’on va où: A song that comes from his À la Belle de Mai album from 1994. A new version recorded by Carla Bruni features on La  Bande à Renaud .



Je suis une bande de jeunes: Another track from 1977's Laisse béton. The  La  Bande à Renaud  version is performed by Renan Luce, Alexis HK & Benoît Dorémus.



La médaille: An anti-military song from his 1994 À la Belle de Mai collection. The new album features a cover by Grand Corps Malade.



Dès que le vent soufflera: The final track of the La  Bande à Renaud  album, a version by all the artists on the collection. The original fetured on his 1983 Morgane de toi album.

Indochine: Traffic Girl

A new video for the track Traffic Girl by Indochine, the French rock veterans who recently played two
nights at the Stade de France.

It's another track from their Black City Parade album, a release that showed clearly that Indochine, France's most successful rock band, remain a force to be reckoned with both commercially and artistically.

While the album may be over a year old, their subsequent touring has kept their profile high.
Meanwhile, videos like the College Boy  - a previous single form the album - generated some controversy and also added to the debate over equal marriage in France.

 Indochine play in London on July 14 and the Vielles Charrues festival in Brittany on July 17.

Indochine at the Stade de France

Indochine take to the stage of the Stade de France tonight for the first of two if the biggest shows of their
Black City Tour.

They're no strangers to the national stadium, selling it out in 2010 when they became the first band to play at the venue, following the release of their La République des Meteors album.

That performance was documented on their Putain de Stade DVD.

With the first show tonight sold out, the band confirmed a second night on Saturday June 28.

2012's Black CIty Parade album gave the band a considerable boost both commercially and critically, and while the band have been probably France's biggest selling band, they showed beyond any doubt that they are still a force to be reckoned with.

Indochine play London on July 14 and at the Les Vielles Charrues festival in Brittany on July 17.

Indochine: Belfast

A new video for the track Belfast by Indochine, the fourth track to be taken from their Black City Parade album, one of last year's most significant releases.

The video's a celebration of the band's live performances, and coming out just days after the band played at the Victoires de la Musique awards, it will certainly capitalise on the band's current high profile.

The electro-flavoured track will be available in a number of remixed formats.

The band have live dates in March, and their tour to promote the album comes to a halt at the Stade de France on June 27 and 28.

The Belfast single is available from March 3.

Indochine: Black City Parade

A clip's recently  been released for the title track from Indochine's most recent album Black City parade.

Indochine have this year shown that even bands that have been around for a few years can remain relevant artistically, critically and commercially.

The album Black City Parade, the band's 12th album, was released in February  and it reached number one in France.

Memoria preceded it as a single, the song College Boy being released in May. That song caused considerable controversy on account of its video, the homophobic violence portrayed in it resulting in a ban from daytime television, its release coinciding with the debate about equal marriage in France.

The new video was shot in New York and was directed by photographer Richard Kern.

Indochine have been touring extensively this year, with more dates resuming at Zénith sized venues around France later this month and into next year. They play at the Stade de France in June 2014.

Indochine: College Boy video

Indochine have released the video for the track College Boy, the second track to be released as a single from their album Black City Parade.

It follows the first single release Memoria

The album has been the biggest seller of the year so far, having gone to number one of its first week of release.

The video has been directed by Canadian Xavier Dolan whose film J'ai tué ma mère won three awards at Canne in 2009.

The video, which runs for close to six minutes, opens with a warning that it contains scenes that may disturb younger viewers.

It's a powerful message against violence among young people at school, particularly in the form of homophobia, the director saying he wanted to take it to the limit, not to shock, but to show that this situation is possible because theres's nothing to stop it.

Singer Nicolas Sirkis commented that the song can be seen in the context of the debate about equal marriage in France, which has seen protests both for and against, but saying that the song was written before that debate was taken into the streets.

He says that the song is a more general appeal for tolerance.


It's a tolerance not shared by the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel, the regulatory body for media in France who judged it as unsuitable for an under 16 audience on account of its violent content. It won't be shown on French TV before 10pm.

One member of the CSA commented that there's enough of this story of violence, and that death is not art, violence is not art and nor is torture, and that these images don't have a place on music channels.


The director said that to say that the clip encouraged violence was completely stupid, and asked if it really was more violent than all the films that appear on our screens every day.

While the debate about the clip rages, it's certainly succeeded in raising a controversial and difficult issue for society to confront.