Kompromat is the alliance of Vitalic and Rebeka Warrior (Sexy Sushi, Mansfield.TYA). Five years after their debut album, they return with “Plдying / Prдying”, released on Warriorecords, a label founded by Rebeka Warrior.

The 10-track album is out now as download, on vinyl (a transparent red and a black version), on CD and as streaming.

Thematically the duo delves into prayer (pagan or otherwise), funeral rites, transitions between worlds, as well as “the pleasures of the flesh, dance, and ecstasy – like a divine invocation through music.”

Their music blends EBM, Cold Wave, New Wave, and radical techno, and whereas German dominated their first album, this time it’s English. The album also features voices close to the group: Vimala Pons, Sonia DeVille, Rahim Redcar (formerly Christine and the Queens), and Farah.

The mixing was done by Stéphane Alf Briat (Air, Flavien Berger, La Femme). On the visual side, Théo Mercier and Erwan Fichou, long-time collaborators, went looking for inspiration from Jean Cocteau’s “Orpheus”.

The duo will be touring across France and Europe later this year.

About Kompromat

Kompromat is a collaborative project between French electronic music producer Vitalic (Pascal Arbez-Nicolas) and singer Rebeka Warrior (Julia Lanoë), known for her work with Sexy Sushi and Mansfield.TYA.

The duo formed Kompromat in 2019, drawing inspiration from early Berlin techno, blending genres like Electronic Body Music (EBM), Cold Wave, New Wave, and radical techno.

Their debut album, “Traum und Existenz”, was released in 2019 under Clivage Music, Vitalic’s label. The album features tracks predominantly in German, such as “Niemand” and “Possession”.

And now on January 24th 2025, Kompromat released their second album, “Plдying / PrдyingG”, on Warriorecords.

About Rebeka Warrior

Rebeka Warrior, born Julia Lanoë on May 6, 1978, in Saint-Nazaire, France, has been active in several projects:

• Sexy Sushi: A techno-punk duo formed in 2001 with Mitch Silver, known for its provocative performances and satirical lyrics.
• Mansfield.TYA: Established in 2002 alongside violinist Carla Pallone, this project blends electronic elements with new-wave melodies.
• Kompromat: As explained earlier, in 2019, she collaborated with producer Vitalic to create this project, drawing inspiration from early Berlin techno and incorporating genres like EBM and cold wave.

In December 2020, Rebeka Warrior founded Warriorecords, an independent label based in Paris. The label is dedicated to promoting music, poetry, and experimental sound works across genres such as EBM, cold wave, new wave, techno, and hardcore. Warriorecords releases LPs, EPs, audio fictions, and mixes, featuring artists like Maud Geffray, Cassie Raptor, and Minuit Machine.

Also active as a DJ, her sets are characterized by a fusion of techno, dark techno, EBM, and elements of hardcore.

Kompromat on tour

20.02 – Strasbourg FR – Le Point d’Eau
21.02 – Esch-sur-Alzette LU – Kulturfabrik
22.02 – Geneva CH – Antigel Festival
27.02 – Bordeaux FR – Rocher de Palmer
28.02 – Toulouse FR – Le Bikini
01.03 – Marseille FR – Espace Julien
14.03 – Dijon FR – La Vapeur
15.03 – Grenoble FR – La Belle Électrique
27.03 – Nantes FR – Stereolux
28.03 – Rennes FR – Mythos Festival
29.03 – Rouen FR – Le 106
02.04 – Paris FR – L’Olympia
11.04 – Brussels BE – Les Halles de Schaerbeek
12.04 – Lille FR – L’Aéronef
17.04 – Clermont-Ferrand FR – La Coop. de Mai
18.04 – Montpellier FR – Le Rockstore
19.04 – Bourges FR – Le Printemps de Bourges
30.05 – Lyon FR – Nuits Sonores
06.06 – Saint-Brieuc FR – Art Rock
13.06 – Neuchâtel CH – Festi’Neuch
14.06 – Amiens FR – Minuit Avant la Nuit
26.06 – Marseille FR – Au Large Festival
27.06 – Rochefort FR – Festival Soeurs Jumelles
28.06 – Paris FR – Solidays
04.07 – Marmande FR – Garorock
05.07 – Hérouville-Saint-Clair FR – Beauregard
20.07 – Carhaix FR – Les Vieilles Charrues
22.08 – Château-Gontier FR – V and B Fest’
05.11 – Paris FR – Zénith Paris – La Villette
28.11 – Nîmes FR – Paloma

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Denuit is a French male-female duo which last year released their second album “Inferno” on different formats (digital, CD, vinyl and cassette) by Manic Depression Records and No Need Name. The year before they released their debut album “Black Sun”. They’re actually busy working at the next album planned for Autumn 2023. The duo clearly is a prolific band finding their main sources of inspiration in the 80s Cold-Wave and Post-Punk scene. Time to discover a promising formation so I got in touch with both members: ‘Ivi Topp’ and ‘Liss Araignée’.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Tell us a bit more about the origins and set up of Denuit? What have been potential sources of inspiration and influences? 

IVI: DENUIT started on a cold night, surrounded by synthesizers and the warm voice of Lis. My influences range from Minimal-Techno to Arcade Fire, from Prodigy to Nirvana, from The Doors to Pink Floyd. 

LIS: I’m a big fan of The Cramps and The Doors. They were the first bands that made me want to perform on stage. At the moment I’m listening to a lot of Cyber-Punk/Dark-Techno, especially Sierra and Swarm. It’s really my favorite style of music. I’m a big fan of Rebeka Warrior and all her projects, Mansfield.Tya, Kompromat, Sexy Sushi.  I am also very much influenced by literature, as a lyricist. I read a lot of poetry and fantasy. I love Edgar Allan Poe and Vladimir Maïakovski.

Q: What means music to you and what does Denuit stand for? 

IVI: Music for me is a way to express and communicate raw emotions. To connect and share with everyone around me. Denuit is my life, it’s an energy that has always been inside me. Denuit is ‘de nuit’, which literally means ‘by night’.

LIS: Denuit is my reason for being, it’s the breath that makes my lungs rise, it’s the blood that runs through my veins, it’s the cry of my soul. We want to bring poetry into this harsh world, to find the beauty of life.

Q: Every single aspect -like bandname, album- and song titles but also the music, sounds pretty dark and tormented. What did you try to express by darkness and in which way do the dark times we’re going through have an impact on the global production? 

IVI: We always express with our music what we experience around us, in this sense Denuit is like our personal diary. If our music is dark, we always put hope and light in it. We are very optimistic in our everyday life 🙂 

LIS: I think when I see the darkness, I feel at home in a way. I’m not afraid because I know I have the light inside me to light my way. 

Q: You’ve been very prolific; releasing a first album “Black Sun” in 2021 and next “Inferno” in 2022. How did the switch from one album towards the other happened? Were there significant aspects of the production you wanted to improve and/or change? 

LIS: It’s funny you say that because we’re recording our third album right now. In fact I can let you in on a secret, it will be out in October and the first single will be out in June. The transition from one album to another is natural, we follow our cycles, our phases. We always want to progress and to do that we always push our limits, in terms of production and work. As beings, we learn and evolve all our lives. 

IVI: We are constantly writing and working on new material. We have a need to express the important moments in our lives. With each album we try to push our limits and explore new territories musically. Colour is also important to us, as well as the visual aspect. “Black Sun” is = black, “Inferno” is = red, our next album is = purple.  

Q: And how do you look back at your latest album “Inferno”? What did you keep in mind from the writing process and the way it all took shape? 

LIS: “Inferno” contains a lot of anger, it’s born from a constant frustration, from the oppression of the society at that time. Now we see the world differently, there is so much beauty around us and in the end the most important thing is love. Love for yourself and for others. With “Inferno” we were able to overcome this anger and be reborn in a very positive way. We have hope for the future. 

IVI: “Inferno” is an important step. We had to go into this red, dry land to come out the other side.

Q: It all looks like the video clips clearly are a very important part of Denuit. What did you try to express by the clips and this other creative side of the band? Do you think clips still make sense in a world where streaming became the standard? 

LIS: Video is a complete art because it includes music, photography, acting and writing. For us it is a way to illustrate our music, to show it to people the way we want them to see it. 

IVI: I love films! I think the relationship and the fusion between moving images and music elevates the music and the films at the same time. For us, it is very important to extend our artistic expression to clips. 

Q: Another important part of the band seems to be the stage. How do you transpose the songs from studio towards the stage? And how do you see yourself as a live band? 

LIS: The stage is the performance of our music. When we are with our audience, we feel free and at the right place. We prepare our shows in residences with our technicians and before we play a new set, we check all our scenography and sound to give our audience the best possible experience. 

IVI: The stage is our home. When we play, everything else disappears. There is no past, there is no future, only the present counts. That is why we make music, to play it live! Read the review of ‘Inferno’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electroclash, minimal-electronics.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Last yearFrench Kompromat duo took me by surprise unleashing the brilliant debut album “Traum Und Existenz”. Driven by Vitalic and Rebeka Warrior this project is now back again unleashing this EP with one new song and a cover version of DAF’s “Der Räuber Und Der Prinz”

Content: The style and influences both remain pretty close to the sound approach of the album. Kompromat is mixing minimal-electronics and EBM together with a technoid production. In the end it all sounds like they reactivated the good-old demons of electroclash music.

The songs have been accomplished with analogue effects in the truest 80s spirit. The DAF cover has been edited in two different versions.

+ + + : This is exactly what I expect from a single or EP; danceable songs to set dancefloors on fire! I like Kompromat’s minimalism and especially the fusion between EBM and techno is absolutely successful. The opening cut “Das Grab” sounds cool, but the way they transposed DAF’s “Der Räuber Und Der Prinz” into a minimal, alien-like electroclash song is absolutely phenomenal. I also like Rebeka Warrior’s sterile way of singing with her sexy French accent on top!

– – – : When you’re listening to such a great release, you can only regret there are only 2 (or 3) cuts on it!      

Conclusion: I’m nearly sure Gaby Delgado liked this EP…

Best songs: “Das Grab”, ““Der Räuber Und Der Prinz”, “Der Räuber Und Der Prinz – Radio Edit”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/KOMPROMATmusic

Label: www.clivagemusic.com / www.facebook.com/clivagemusic

About Kompromat

Kompromat is the French duo of Vitalic (Pascal Arbez-Nicolas) and Rebeka Warrior (Julia Lanoë), formed in 2019. The pair had previously collaborated on Vitalic’s 2012 track “La Mort Sur Le Dancefloor”. Following “Traum Und Existenz” and “Le Brigand Et Le Prince” (both 2019, Clivage Music), Kompromat released the album “Plдying / Prдying” in January 2025.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Minimal-techno, electroclash, electro-punk.

Background/Info: Kompromat is a new project featuring Vitalic and Rebeka Warrior. The sound is inspired by the ‘Berliner’ school and defined as the meeting between Einstürzende Neubauten and Crash Course in Science.

Content: “Traum Und Existenz” clearly brings different influences together. During the early millennium years it would probably have been defined as electroclash, but today we should rather speak about a sonic chemistry between techno-, industrial- and electro-punk music. Most of the vocals –sung by Rebeka Warrior, are in German, but you’ll also notice French spoken passages. This is ultra-danceable music!

+ + + : The opening cut will directly give you an idea about the intelligence of this production. The song sounds a bit space-like, but definitely technoid, but the surprising touch is the injection of a children’s choir. I like the sound intelligence of this project. It’s a successful fusion between numerous influences, which is moving from harder danceable pieces towards slower cuts. There also is an experimental touch running through the songs, but it remains all pretty accessible. This album comes from the hands of true sound architects and it’s really exciting to see how an artist such as Vitalic has created such a new and sexy project.

– – – : Like most albums there are a few tracks that couldn’t satisfy me, but there’s no reason to complain. This is a class-act!

Conclusion: Do you remember the magical effect of Miss Kittin & The Hacker? This is different, but the magic is quite similar!

Best songs: “Herztod”, “Possession”, “Auf Immer Und Ewig”, “Traum Und Existenz”, “Einfach Da Sein”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/KOMPROMATmusic

Label: www.citizen–records.com / www.facebook.com/citizenrecords

About Kompromat

Kompromat pairs French producer Vitalic with Rebeka Warrior, also known for Sexy Sushi and Mansfield.TYA. “Traum Und Existenz” (2019) was released on Citizen Records. The duo returned in January 2025 with “Plдying / Prдying”, released on Warriorecords, the label Rebeka Warrior founded.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com