VARSOVIE, “Notes Pour Plus Tard”
“Notes Pour Plus Tard” is another strong record from Varsovie. Dark post punk, nervous guitars, powerful melodies and that signature tension between melancholy and aggression that makes their music so addictive.
Released on 16 October 2026 through Icy Cold Records, the album is the sixth from the band and feels like a natural continuation of what they have been building over the years. That is precisely what I enjoy about it. I am a big fan, and I have no desire to see them turn everything upside down just to prove they can. They have their own musical identity, and this is exactly what I want from them.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed a slight shift. The melody has a stronger presence here, without ever softening the darker atmosphere. Arnault Destal himself describes the album as a little more varied than its predecessor, “Pression à Froid”, while still remaining coherent. As he puts it:
“I’d say it’s perhaps a more varied album than the previous one, “Pression à Froid”, while remaining very coherent.”
There is enough energy here to make you turn the volume up, and enough depth to keep you coming back for another listen, and then another. It is the kind of record that can actually make you feel better. I know that sounds contradictory given the genre, but that is part of the appeal.
Then there is Grégory Cathérina’s voice. Quite simply, it is one of the things I love most about Varsovie. Dark, distinctive and almost nonchalant at times, as if he were deliberately holding something back. There is an understated quality to his delivery that makes the emotion beneath it all the more powerful. He doesn’t need to push his voice to the limit. That apparent detachment is part of its strength, and it fits the music perfectly.
While working on this review, I came across an interview with Arnault on the French radio programme Frontière Rock, broadcast on Attitude FM. It turned out to be a very good companion to the album. What caught my attention most was how he described the band’s approach to songwriting. Varsovie build worlds in which listeners can project their own experiences and imagination. As he explained:
“The main thing is that we like creating worlds in which the listener can project themselves, make their own film. That’s also why I like using double meanings. Everyone can have a different perception, depending on the angle.”
It reminded me of French literature lessons at school. We would spend hours analysing a poem or an extract from a novel, arguing over what the author actually meant, what was hidden between the lines, and whether our interpretation was the one the writer had in mind. Everyone had an opinion, often quite different from the person sitting next to them, and the discussion was frequently as interesting as the text itself.
There is something similar in the way Varsovie approach their lyrics. The songs don’t offer straightforward answers, and they don’t come with an instruction manual. Our relationship with a song also changes over time. You might hear it one way at twenty and come back ten or twenty years later hearing something entirely different. Even within the same week, your mood can change what you hear, so a song that felt like comfort on Monday can feel like a punch on Friday. Not because the song has changed, but because you have. Perhaps what Arnault intended is not even what I hear in a particular song, and that is perfectly fine. The most interesting part of listening is often the conversation between what the artist created and what we bring to it.
He went further when talking about the importance of mystery. The band deliberately leaves certain things unexplained, allowing listeners to make those spaces their own. Asked about “Partout Les Chiens”, one of my favorite song, he said:
“It’s one of the songs I don’t really want to revisit, because I’d like to leave a great deal of mystery and interpretation around it.”
I find this slightly contradictory in my own case. I am the kind of person who constantly asks for explanations. At work, in everyday life, I want to know why things happen and how they work. But with art, whether it is music, littérature, cinema or painting, I don’t necessarily want an explanation. I want to feel something. Writing for this website sometimes pushes me to analyse a song and put my thoughts into words, and that is part of the job. Personally, I believe art is first and foremost an emotion.
Arnault also spoke about the unusual mixture of emotions that drives their music:
“It’s a strange mixture of anger, perhaps rage at times, but also spleen, melancholy and nostalgia. It’s an unusual mix, because it can be very melancholic and, at the same time, very nervous.”
That is an excellent description of the band’s sound, and of what I hear on “Notes Pour Plus Tard”. There is anger in it, but also vulnerability. There is darkness, but not resignation. The music has a pulse, and sometimes it feels like it needs to get something out of its system.
He also spoke about the first single, “Treize Collines”, explaining that the title is another name for Paris and that the song refers to the terrorist attacks of 13 November 2015. It is a reminder that the imagery can be rooted in very real places and events, even when the lyrics leave room for personal interpretation.
“Notes Pour Plus Tard” is another strong album from a band whose music continues to mean a great deal to me. It has darkness, aggression, melancholy and plenty of memorable moments to keep it firmly in rotation. I came to this record already knowing why I love Varsovie. After listening to it, I have even more reasons to keep coming back and I’m very much looking forward to seeing them perform live in Poland.
LINKS
Varsovie: Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Youtube
Attitude FM: Website | Program
