Vertigo by Jaune Toujours

Autumn 2024, Jaune Toujours release their highly anticipated new album VERTIGO. The album continues the band's tradition of breaking boundaries - be it linguistic or musical - with lyrics in English, French, and Dutch, catchy songs, a punk attitude, drum & brass, accordion dub, and Belgian ska. VERTIGO the band pushes even further in their sonic adventure: the accordion is frequently run through effects pedals (ranging from organ sounds to wah-wah and delay), occasionally, a mini-Korg or piano make an appearance, the double bass regularly dives into distortion, occasionally switching to electric bass, while the drums juggle snares and various percussion elements with glee. The horns are richly layered, and the vocals are intricately produced, featuring rich backing vocals and tracks.

The lyrics on VERTIGO provide a snapshot of the world, a world so vast it makes you dizzy (hence: VERTIGO). Many things are going wrong: climate issues, social inequality, oppression, the dominance of image and discourse, the rise of the far right, wars… But if there is anything that can bring hope, let it be music! The songs on VERTIGO aim to keep spirits up, to persevere, to make the right choices, to turn values into actions, and to make the world a better place. It seems almost impossible, but once we start, there's no stopping us!

VERTIGO was recorded at Choux de Bruxelles in Jaune Toujours' rehearsal space and mixed at Studio Planet by Jules Fradet, known for his work with Belgian rappers like Damso, Caballero & Jeanjass, Roméo Elvis, La Smala, and Baloji. Choux de Bruxelles has collaborated with him before on other productions, including Mec Yek's album SuperDiverCity. *Vertigo* was co-produced by Jules Fradet and Jaune Toujours' frontman, Piet Maris.

Jaune Toujours invites you to join them on a musical journey where borders between genres are crossed, and rules are rewritten. *Vertigo* is more than just an album—it’s a statement, an invitation to see the world differently, with the same open-mindedness that has defined the band since the 1990s.



Artwork: Since 2002, Sarah Baur has been designing the covers for Jaune Toujours’ albums. For the new album *Vertigo*, the idea was to create something in the style of the fanzines from the 1990s punk rock scene. Combining this with the title *Vertigo* called for a colorful, festive vibe. In line with the fanzine concept and in response to the rise of AI, Sarah decided to work entirely analog. Using paper, scissors, and markers, she created a punky, somewhat anarchistic collage, fitting the band's DIYattitude. She visually translated the Jaune Toujours universe into a galaxy where the colors of reggae and ska take center stage. These colors reflect what the band stands for: community, positivity, and combativeness – all in a danceable way.

Sustainability: The CD is not in a jewelcase but in a cardboard digipack, to avoid as much plastic as possible. For the vinyl, the production opted for the ecological “Rebound Compound“. It consists of 100% post-consumer records from old stocks and thrift shops, which can no longer be sold and risk to end up in the rubbish bin, transformed into new raw material that is indistinguishable from 100% “new“ in terms of sight and sound quality. For now, the process only works with black vinyl, hence: no fancy colours for VERTIGO, but classy black, with a grammage of 180g for optimal sound quality.

Here’s a cult band that, with its explosive, urban mix of music genres, rhythms, languages and cultures evolved to a high quality brand, appreciated by both the international press and audiences all over.

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