With a name that means "new wave" in English and "bossa nova" in Portuguese, Nouvelle Vague's moniker neatly sums up the group's concept: remaking classic new wave singles with a Brazilian pop twist. Nouvelle Vague is the brainchild of French producers Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux.

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I pulled this from all music, its the easiest way to explain to you the concept behind Nouvelle Vague. Another interesting bit on the cd, the women singing were not familiar with the original songs which gives it a more authenitic feel. Track 1 "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is set to a Brazilian jazz beat which gives it an uplifting feel. It does strip the seriousness of the song but with waves crashing in the backgound and maracas its hard to hate. Track 2 "Just Can't Get Enough" takes the Depeche Mode song and interjects an island mentality. Lots of congos and steel drums. Track 4 "Guns Of Brixton" is probably the closest to the original on the cd. It still have the Bossa Nova feel but The Clash were always into world music so its not that big of a stretch. Track 5 "This Is Not A Love Song" takes Public Image Ltd and morphs it into a late nite drinking and dancing under the stars sing a long. Track 8 "Making Plans For Nigel" is probably my favorite on the cd, it is beautiful and lush with a great underlying spanish guitar holding it all together. Track 9 "A Forest" has the sounds of a tropical rainforest, quite different than the dark, brooding version we all know from The Cure. The running water and birds makes you think this is from a relaxation cd. Tack 10 "I'll Stop The World" takes one of the most popular 80s songs and gives it a lullaby quality. This cd came out in 2004 but didn't really gain world acclaim until this year. Nouvelle Vague released a 2nd cd a couple months ago with covers of Echo & The Bunnymen, U2, Billy Idol, Blondie, The Cramps and Bauhaus just to name a few. I havn't heard this one but can't wait til I get a copy.