ZOO VERONE’s first album, « Retour au zoo » (literally “Back to the Zoo”) (Martingale), was a relaxed and enchanted work wherein muffled pop softly and languorously mingled with electronica and dream-related texts. This first album established the band, an on-and-off trio at that time, as a French rock breakthrough in 2005, thanks to its subtle alchemy of various influences.

CROCODILE After becoming a fully-fledged duo Fabien Guidollet and Delphine Passant quickly manifested the need to explore new areas although they first took their time taming the stage together. During this time they took fun gathering sound atmospheres (most of them can be found on the new album), a fusion of Croatian orchestras and French harvest festivals. They also participated in the Francofolies de la Rochelle and the C’est dans la vallée music festival in 2009. And now, after five years both long and short, they have achieved this second LP album, « La fiancée du crocodile »; the promise of a playful and fanciful world, successively extroverted and intimist.

LEGO For VERONE, soul-searching is intended and inspiring. They look for textured sounds so as to eventually smooth them over; they treasure J.J. Cale – the 1970s subversive Nino Ferrer who made « Véritables variétés verdâtres », or the Scottish Beta Band fiddlers, and assimilate these influences to end up freeing themselves from them. All this builds up a vivid hotbed of creativity. Just like Lego bricks when destructuration means restructuration and retracing your steps is the way to take. An entanglement of ideas meant to appropriate something different and escape from the surrounding conformity. Fabien and Delphine brought together various musicians in studio and then blended their recordings with computers. In the end the mixing of arrangements and sounds with Fabien’s and Delphine’s voices made each song unique, each one being fashioned individually.

PAPUANS Each song emphasises Fabien’s direct, harsh but nonetheless surreal texts like: ‘Si tu n’ vas pas te laver Un groin bientôt te poussera Naf Naf le petit cochon Tu finiras en jambon’ (« L’élixir du Suédois »), (“if you don’t go clean up, a snout will grow little pig, you’ll turn into ham” in “L’élixir du Suédois” ) and each one tells an unusual and off-beat story (the emperor and his ball, the garage with kids yelling) sometimes as if it resulted from French famous radio programme “Des papous dans la tête”, involving puns and wordplays. ‘Bec de lièvre, calvitie, oeil de verre, cellulite, Mannequin anorexique et gros nichons en plastique’ (« Etre beau ou mourir »). “Harelip, baldness, glass eye, cellulite, anorexic fashion model and big plastic boobs” (“Being beautiful or die”). Although VERONE’s first album was dotted with synthetic sounds, « La fiancée du crocodile » gives priority to a more organic approach, a challenging construction with unexpected and various bounces where Delphine’s guitars and sensual banjo interact with Fabien’s really distinctive wording, not to mention the psychedelic compositions emanating from their computer or the electronic and acoustic percussions. With their ten tracks, both energetic and daring, be it through a 1920s Charleston rhythm, a swaying ballad, an elating Pink Floydian rock or the quaint charm atmosphere of a carnival, they take you to a poetic and fairy tale like world, continually renewing itself.

FRIENDS Several musician friends pitched in the recording sessions : Jeanne Balibar who accepted to sing on “Transparent” after Verone fell in love with her album “Paramour”, Frédéric Lo (Daniel Darc), Dominique Mahut (the man in Jacques Higelin’s shadow), Sammy Decoster, Mark Kerr (Scottish drummer with Rita Mitsouko and Joakim), Jérôme Bensoussan (Dominique A), and some others… The album, co-produced by Riatto (aka Tom Fury, already there on “Retour du zoo”) was mixed by Yann Arnaud (Syd Matters, Air) and Paul Kendall (Depeche Mode, Wire).

Last but not least, Olaf Hejek, painter and illustrator from Berlin, who is internationally renowned for his expert work, notably with Dior and Givenchy; hand-designed the surreal and colourful album sleeve and the first single’s sleeve (“La fiancée du crocodile”)