Nicolas Michaux Reveals Video For Album Focus Track ‘Watching The Cars’ Out Now

Ahead of his forthcoming third album, titled Vitalisme, which will be released on 18th October 2024 via Capitane Records, Belgian indie singer/songwriter Nicolas Michaux is pleased to reveal the official video for album focus track ‘Watching The Cars’, out now on all good digital service providers.

The third single to be taken from the record, ‘Watching The Cars’ is a New Wave-influenced song with an irresistible riff that plunges the listener into a Cassavetes-esque atmosphere. A man locked in a motel is forced, like a punished child in primary school, to write the same sentence over and over while the owner watches the war on television.

The phrase he must copy—"Will they kill another kid?"—inevitably brings to mind the events of 7th October 2023 and the ongoing massacre in Gaza. With a groove reminiscent of Talking Heads or Ian Dury, this waking nightmare has the macabre makings of an instantaneous earworm, capturing the dystopian ambiance of our current times.

The video accompanying the track is once again directed by Simon Vanrie and consists of a single continuous shot made with the help of motion control. The result is a dance between man and machine, questioning the increasingly coercive power of robots over humans.

Nicolas Michaux is a Belgian singer, songwriter, and producer. He shares his time between Brussels, where he is part of the Capitane Collective production group, and the island of Samsø in Denmark, where he lives with his two daughters. Michaux writes and sings in both English and French, consciously standing at the crossroads of different traditions. However, Michaux is guided by a deeply personal and autonomous style and spirit. His recordings, homemade and realistic, almost documentary-like, reflect a life spent listening.

"Music is something that happens, not something you do," he says about his creative process. Michaux's production style paints vivid sonic pictures rooted in a deep consideration of instruments and the textures they evoke. Like a landscaper, his work is a meditation on the living world. His "painting" is the musical spectrum.

First, there was "À La Vie à La Mort" Michaux's remarkable debut album released on the Parisian label Tôt ou Tard in 2016, which continues to gain recognition among music lovers worldwide. Then came the success of "Amour Colère" in 2020 on Capitane Records, supported notably by France Inter, La Première, Radio Nova, La Blogothèque, BBC6 Music, and Télérama.

In 2021, the compilation "Les Chutes" and the single "Amusement Park," streamed over 3.8 million times on platforms, were released. On May 24, 2023, Michaux released the single "Chaleur Humaine" accompanied by a video he directed in Ibiza. After being played all summer on La Première and France Inter, the song was selected as a favourite by francophone media across the world.

Alongside his solo career, Nicolas Michaux also produces records for other artists and has recently collaborated for production and/or mixing with Irma Thomas, Turner Cody, Ish Marquez, Lisa-Li Lund, Regina Spektor, Cyril Neville, Binki Shapiro, Ben Chace, and more.

Forthcoming album Vitalisme consists of twelve recordings made over the years on the Danish island of Samsø and at the Free House, the studio of Capitane Records in Brussels.

Boasting over 100k monthly listeners and over 5 million streams on Spotify, Michaux has previously toured alongside Adam Green, with a London album release show lined up for 28th November at the Shacklewell Arms.

New album Vitalisme is released 18th October 2024 via Capitane Records

Live Dates:

16.10 - Brussels - Le Botanique (Release party)

18.10 - Paris - Zèbre de Belleville (Release party)

28.11 - London - Shacklewell Arms (Capitane Records showcase w/ Lisa Li Lund Fervents)