About the Band
Police Voleur is a Lebanese Indie band formed by Scarlett Saad and Kristian Abouanni. Having previously worked on various musical projects together as individual artists, “Police Voleur” came to life as a start of a new songwriting collaboration.
Growing up in Lebanon, or anywhere else in the world, provides a plethora of childhood memories to draw influences from when we become artists. The game Police Voleur (Cops and Robbers) is but one of such memories of hours spent playing the simple game. Which brings us to the band, Police Voleur. The same childlike, not childish, attitude remains in their music. The band’s sound is alternative pop inspired, a mix of western music and Lebanese lyrics.
There’s a dichotomy that needs to be drawn here. The difference between taking music seriously without being taken too seriously. The songs themselves are serious. Raw emotions of denial, of pain, of love all run rampant in the themes of Police Voleur’s tracks. The approach however, is what keeps the band in touch with their inner child, ensuring the “fun” factor of the music. Just like playing as children. You want to play. You don’t want your team to lose. But if it isn’t fun, why play in the first place?
About the Single
The track Cache Cache, the title song of the album and the lead single, is musically playful yet thematically realistic. There is a story involved, a backstory, as nothing is taken out of context. The back and forth exchanges are all asking if everything’s ok. Most couples reach this point, where things go south but nobody wants to say anything, in fear of addressing the elephant in the room. Every now and then, the audience changes with the lyrics being directed towards the listener as opposed to one another. In these instances, they say nothing is wrong. A form of trying to convince others that everything’s OK.
It’s a relatively upbeat track with hip hop beats and sampling over an underlying pop sound. It’s musically rich. It’s catchy. And it epitomizes the band’s approach to making a good pop song.
Composed by: Kristian Abouanni & Scarlett Saad
Mixed by: William Mahfoud
Label: Redbooth
About the Music Video
The music video is based on a play on words as well as images and collages. While the song is entitled Cache Cache, the French name of the famed Hide and Seek game, the video adds the English element of Cash Cash, pronounced the same way. A singing Benjamin Franklin bill, and a constant seek for lost money adds this new dimension.
This new play on words is even more relevant today than it would have been had it been released a year or so ago. Given our financial crisis, the use of the dollar sign is a further use of tongue-in-cheek humor as we seem to be playing Hide and Seek with the American currency.
In addition, the color schemes are on the cool side of the spectrum, and it’s a fun video-clip with fancy costumes, dancing, and moving collages. It’s a stark contrast to the lyrically pessimistic theme, and it works like a charm. Why? Because that’s what Police Voleur are: a band of contrasts.
Directed by: Kristian Abouanni & Scarlett Saad
DOP & Graphics Supervision: Joe El Hage
Graphic Set-Designer: Elyas Arayess
Produced by: Redbooth
