‘Rue Crimée’ is the latest single from the Glasgow duo’s Sinking into Darkness, released last year.
Pitching themselves as dark and moody electronica, on first listen Sacre Noir’s twitchy effects and judicious cowbell sounds not unlike a Scottish Depeche Mode.
The haunted house atmosphere of ‘Rue Crimée’ plays on the tensions and insecurities of the listener, with a cold, stately beat that nods to New Order.
Previous single ‘She Can’t Take It’ owed its own debt to Joy Division so this can be considered progress of a sort
Their Edinburgh based label Savage Recordings deals in esoteric electronica from across the globe, listing artists from as far afield as Russia and Italy on their roster, seemingly united by a shared love of monochrome colour schemes.
However for all their dramatic makeup you suspect that Scare Noir’s name signifies nothing more than a vague idea that French adjectives would fit a track with pretensions of the exotic and mysterious; a shallow aesthetic privileged over crafting a truly memorable track to accompany it.
Praise is due for Carrie Beattie’s haunting voice but it never quite succeeds in evoking the French new-wave feel its clearly striving for.
Words: Max Sefton
