While I enjoy everything I share to this blog, it’s not always the case that a release truly captures my imagination. Steel & Velvet’s newest project has done exactly that.
By Graeme Smith
Lots of artists do covers, but few do them the way the Breton act does. Their new EP People Just Float collects some classics from the latter half of the 20th century, unexpectedly remaking them, repurposing them, and joining them together into a wider narrative.
You’ll likely know the songs on People Just Float but they sound fresh and new on the EP. The vocal stylings are strikingly different from those that made them famous, and the way they are pieced together make them seem like that was always the purpose of them, though some were written decades apart.
The narrative is powerful, telling the story of Joshua, a reclusive man living in a cabin who meets a frightened woman in the forest. A short film, directed by Brest photographer and videographer Loïc Moyou, goes with the six-track EP, further enhancing the narrative, and giving it a twist, thought-provoking finale.
The story begins with Orphan’s Lament, a song made famous by Robbie Basho in 1978. In Steel & Velvet’s version, its stripped-back and acoustic, a style that pervades across the EP.
Ring of Fire marks the EP’s liveliest moment with the accompanying video showing the story’s pair of protagonists dancing and full of joie de vivre. Man in the Long Black Coat sees the tale take a sinister twist.
Nirvana’s Lake of Fire is rendered barely recognisable as the story reaches its climax leaving only In Heaven, by Alan Splet and David Lynch, to provide the poignant close. The latter is sung by Jade, Steel & Velvet co-founder Johann Le Roux’s daughter, giving us some late contrast to Le Roux’s deeper tones.
Featuring alongside the Le Rouxs are Romuald Ballet-Baz and Jean-Alain Larreur. Ballet-Baz is the band’s other co-founder with Larreur, a guitarist friend, joining them to complete the line-up.
The band have form in recording covers. In 2023, they released Waiting For Some Warmth, a cover EP and tribute to Mark Lanegan. They do write their own material too, like 2022’s Poppy Fields.
Whether performing their own songs or covers, I find Steel & Velvet to be uncompromisingly original. They’re leading the way in how covers can be thoughtful and not cash-ins.
People Just Float is out now, and you can listen to it below. The record’s collection of short films are being released one every two weeks on the band’s YouTube page, with the next one out on 5 December 2025.
Supported by Musosoup #SustainableCurator
