‘Jusqu’au bout j’aurai, Toujours le vent de face, Suis-je le seul à voir la difference, Entre ce que vous croyez, Et ce qui vraiment se passe?’ (Neige) / ‘Until the end, I’ll always have the wind in my face, Am I the only one who sees the difference, Between what you believe, And what’s really happening?’ (Snow)

Utopie self-describe their music as ‘cold punk’.  And there is admittedly a compelling logic to this description.  The Lille band strikingly infuse their dark punk roots with a taut post-punk angularity.  Yet this should not be confused in any sense with an emotional detachment – theirs is a sound that simultaneously brims with a driving, boisterous energy.

Virage (Bend) is the band’s second full-length and follow-up to 2022’s Seconde Figure.  The album opens with the sorrowfully shimmering instrumental title track which primes the album perfectly.  From then on, the band unfurl their distinctive blend of impassioned vocals, sinuous riffs, and muscular shout-along choruses.  Personal highlights are the bass propelled Sève (Sap), the dramatic melodicism of L’Appel Du Vide (The Call Of The Void), and the smouldering escalation of Neige (Snow).

The darkly poetic lyrics are self-reflective in tone and draw on the seasonal cycles of nature to explore the challenges of holding true to our own convictions in a world rooted in such alienating values.  So, cold punk certainly, but just as assuredly punk with a fiercely beating heart.