POTOCHKINE

Things that make our hearts overflow: milk chocolate Easter eggs, Kevin De Bruyne’s pinpoint crosses, Penelope Cruz’s smile, French musical duos and Tuscany in the sunshine. You get six guesses as to which of the five will take centre stage at this year’s Lokerse Feesten. Spoiler: August is just a tad too late for Easter, Kevin has to train, Tuscany stays in Tuscany and Penelope has to go to Zumba on Sunday 2 August. However, the ones we invited over the phone and who then shouted “Mon Dieu, bien sûr” were Pauline Alcaïdé and Hugo Sempé, two young Parisians who travel the world under the nom de plume POTOCHKINE. Potochkine is one of those bands that still release their music on cassette, a group that since 2016 has had one heel firmly planted in the EBM and darkwave of the 1980s, whilst the heel of their right foot is rooted in more modern electro sounds. Anyone who has seen them live will be happy to tell you that Pauline and Hugo have a number of strengths. Their beats and mesmerising synth sounds act as a sort of stun gun that compels you to perform the craziest dance moves. Furthermore: the intimate interplay between darkness and strobe lights, which contributes significantly to the somewhat mysterious atmosphere. Pauline’s seductive presence, which makes us forget Penelope for a few quarters of an hour, is another such asset. And the music, of course, because their latest release, “Sang d’Encre” (2025), does exactly what their previous releases did: guarding the left flank of electro stars such as Miss Kittin & The Hacker or Peaches, from where they bombard the world with high-quality musical journeys and dark dancefloor bangers.