CATHEDRALE

Fifth Bell for CATHEDRALE!
It’s been almost ten years since CATHEDRALE released its very first demos. Since then, the Toulouse-based band has put out
four critically acclaimed albums, toured across Europe, and firmly established itself as a cornerstone of the French independent
music scene.
From its early days, CATHEDRALE has preserved its raw urgency, unaltered. For the recording of POISON its fifth album (https://
soundcloud.com/user-710869363/sets/cathedrale-poison-lien-prive/s-z7Wcop1CRw7), the band turned to Mathieu Versini, a
childhood friend of Jules Maison (with whom he played in Departure Kids). Versini recorded and mixed the album in less than a
week at his studio in Brussels. The tracks were recorded live in just a few takes — everything had to be stage-ready. To match the
concise and direct approach of their early days, the band returned to a four-member lineup for live performances.
Not exactly garage rock or power pop anymore, but not fully post-punk either, the Toulouse quartet has carved its own path over
the years, developing a sound that is unmistakable. Poison represents the culmination of this evolution. Thirteen tension-filled
tracks where sharp, omnipresent guitars interact with synths—a feature introduced on their previous album, Words / Silence (2023).
Here, the synths take center stage, adding a layer of darkness previously unseen in the band’s compositions.
This darker edge manifests as much in the sonic approach (the ghostly synth on Healing, the noise elements of the Polonium /
Radium diptych—featuring the sound of a metal chain—or the menacing guitars on Enchantress) as it does in the themes explored
by the band: the sterilization of urban spaces in Monuments & Bricks, the anxiety of transit in South Life, the struggle with addiction
(Cravings), or reflections on mortality (Wave Goodbye). The lyrics draw on figures like Baudelaire, Marie Curie, Circe, and the
Horsemen of the Apocalypse, offering a more personal perspective than ever before, making Poison the band’s most intimate
record to date.
This fifth album reveals a band at the peak of its powers, freed from the weight of its influences. The result is both their most
visceral and most accomplished work to date. With cover art by Guillaume Berneau, based on a photo taken by the band while on
tour, Poison will be released on February 14, 2025, via Howlin’ Banana Records & Regarts.