“Of course, when I am playing in front of an energetic audience then I am way more energetic myself. I want to give more to the audience.” Clearly excited about his impending visit to his “favourite place” in the world, he concedes that his elation is met by anticipation in equal measure. With the appearances marking the release of his debut LP ANGST after a run of successful EPs, he reveals, “I am a bit afraid of the audience reaction, but I would say I am quite self confident. I am really happy with what I have created. I am happy with my LP, so I am bit self confident in comparison to EPs when I was just a bit who cares. It’s just EPs and it’s just club music.” While his response may in turn write off his previous dalliances as of minimal importance, it transpires that is far from his intended meaning. With an apology about his poor English, he clarifies as follows, “It takes way more time to do. I involved myself way more. In some ways, it is way more important for me.”
With the LP appropriately entitled ANGST, it becomes clear that despite his desire to work solo, his LP was more a case of wanting a little help from his friends. With the record boasting remarkable guest vocals from an array of artists, including Annie, Lexicon and BonjourAfrique, he reveals that he didn’t ever search high and low for new talents but rather just called around a few pals he has met on the circuit. “It was all friends. I wanted to work with friends. I’ve got lots of friends who are into music. When you are traveling a lot, you meet lots of people and they become friends.”
Although he is clearly keen to make it clear that he has only called upon the services of his nearest and dearest, he seems equally intent upon justifying his choices. He states, “It is because they are friends and talented,” perhaps as a way of informing those who bump into him during his Australian stay that if they are be-befriending him in the sole hope of a guest vocal slot, that they need to be able to deliver the goods before being considered. As if to offer a final justification for his vocalist selection, he offers, “The main reason was that I wanted to work with a kind of family. I wanted the album to be a family album.”
Though his appearances coincide with the release of ANGST, his support slots for his fellow countrymen Yelle are of the DJ variety, which are seemingly different to his desired setup. When asked about what tricks he has up his sleeve, he states, “I’m going to mix all sorts of things. I would say 50/50 my things and 50/50 the other things,” before offering with a clearly mournful longing, “But I wanted to do live shows. I am doing live shows with musicians here, but it is super expensive to go there with like 10 people and blah, blah, blah. When I am doing my live shows I am doing it with a backing band. I am working alone because I love to work alone but I need my band live to recreate things.”
Though Delacroix is not pre-empting a change in musical direction, it is clear that with the release of a fully-fledged LP, he has realised that in a live forum, Toxic Avenger is no longer a solo outing. “I could have done the live show by myself on my laptop and been like a nerd on stage, not moving my feet, my arm and my head. But it would not be interesting for me to do that, so I choose to take musicians with me so it more like a rock gig.” Although he might be slightly disappointed at the budgeting restrictions placed upon his performance, it appears there is at least a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. “I am going to do a DJ set but it is going to be a bit live. As much live as I can with my little gear. Then I guess I am going to come back with the live show later.”
