Noir Désir - Débranche

A low-key collection of previously-unreleased recordings by legendary French act Noir Désir has emerged, ten years after the band ceased to exist after singer Bertrand Cantat was imprisoned for the killing of his partner.

Cantat was convicted in 2004 of the killing of actress Marie Trintignant in Lithuania, and sentenced to eight years in jail he was released in 2007. The following year Noir Désir made hesitant steps to resume their career, but only two more tracks emerged before it was confirmed that the band would not continue.

Débranché, a double live acoustic album features two separate sessions from 1997 and 2002. Both sets feature the songs in intimate acoustic settings.

The first disc features a session recorded for Italian radio while the band were promoting their Des visages des figures album. It features seven songs,  Si rien ne bouge, Le vent nous portera, L’homme pressé, Des visages des figures, Les écorchés, À l'envers à l'endroit and Song for JLP.

The second disc a shorter 45rpm 12'' features four tracks,  Un jour en France, Fin de siècle, Song for JLP and Back to You, and was recorded for TV show Much Electric in Argentina during the band's  666.667 Club tour.

For a band like Noir Désir, the recordings capture the band at the peak of their craft and their popularity, and even now ten years after they split they remain hugely influential and popular.

But there's been little by way of archive raiding by the record company, with 2011's Soyons désinvoltes, n'ayons l'air de rie compilation of hits and rarities marking their last release until now.

Obviously, there are complex and unaddressed issues regarding whether it's right or not to release material that benefit's Cantat, who now performs as a solo artist, but who remains at the centre of the debate on whether rehabilitation is possible for such a high-profile artist.

The new album's had a discrete release, no supporting interviews or videos and it's only available on vinyl and streaming. There aren't even any pictures of the band on the packaging.

It looks like the record company are taking sensible steps to steer a difficult course between the demand for material from a much-loved and fondly-remembered act, and the very hard reality of what Canat did.

Is it right to enjoy archive Noir Désir in 2020 in light of their subsequent history? That's not a question that's easy to answer.