Blending avant-garde sensibilities with a penchant for writing catchy pop hooks, Catastrophe is a French psychedelic pop band who took the Gallic music scene by storm upon its formation in 2015. With a lineup that oscillated between three and twenty people, the group was initially born as a duo between musician Pierre Jouan and singer/writer Blandine Rinkel. Quickly enough, they established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, publishing a manifesto in the Libération newspaper in 2016 and making the rounds in small venues around Paris. All the buzz surrounding the group caught the attention of composer Bertrand Burgalat, who produced their debut EP, Dernier Soleil (2016), and released it via his own Tricatel label. Their first full-length, La Nuit Est Encore Jeune (2018), expanded upon the band’s sonic palette and was championed by French pop eminence Étienne Daho on his “Daho l’aime pop !” exhibition at the Cité de la Musique. A subsequent tour ensued, playing some of France’s biggest festivals, including Les Francofolies, Pete the Monkey, and We Love Green. Consolidated as a six-piece, Catastrophe released the single “Maintenant ou jamais” in 2019, which served as a teaser for Gong! (2020), a concept album about hyperconnectivity that combined the group’s love for musical comedy with a more urban-oriented sound.
