(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Bérèche You press release) The new Bérèche You album ‘The Price of Love’ is a summary of the work with Cassiel Agrippa, with new definitive versions of the previously released songs. The album also includes new tracks, such as the new single ‘Adore Me’.

The Bérèche You music project released its singles and subsequent first album on Spotify in early summer last year. However, the concept was conceived half a year earlier. After many years working with the Electro Spectre project, releasing multiple albums and compilations, Isak was turning a page to start something new. As he has previously stated, he wanted to start a new project, something new.

S-L: What ignited this project?

Isak: I wanted to do something a little different, yet still electronica, obviously, but a new approach. The idea was to invite different artists to collaborate. That was the concept and idea. At a party, Thomas responded to this by suggesting that he would like to try and contribute. Well, time would tell, so I sent him a couple of instrumentals to work on the next day.

At a later party, Thomas had proven his creativity and presented several demos that impressed the guests. That’s how the collaboration came about, and two of the songs on the debut album feature Cassiel Agrippa, which is his artist moniker.

S-L: After the album release, the project followed up with several single releases and an EP. Now, a year later, with multiple releases under your belt, how would you sum up the project and the interest in it so far?

Isak: This project has been, and is, a lot of fun. It was the new perspective I needed, a slightly different direction and sound. We are steadily building a fan base, with a few old ES fans carried over. Several great DJs here in Oslo have featured our songs and continue to do so, I hope. We have also been on the chart of a well-known German electronica/indie net radio (https://klangwald-charts.de/) and generally been well received. Now that we are releasing a new album, ‘The Price Of Love’, featuring Cassiel Agrippa exclusively. Paired with our live performance in Oslo, we are certainly hoping to keep expanding our fan base.

S-L: Thomas, this has been your first major music project, where you’ve both written lyrics and sung—how do you see your development so far? What challenges have you faced?

Thomas Brevik/Cassiel Agrippa: Well, there are always certain challenges when writing music. Fun challenges. Initially it’s coming up with a melody – a catchy chorus and verse. A little behind-the-scenes fact is that the very first lyrics are just placeholder text to work out the melody. Then I replace that nonsense with actual lyrics. The other challenge is the vocals. I have taken singing lessons, and practiced a lot. And I can clearly see improvement in myself, which is quite rewarding. So you might say there is a constant development in all the aspects of music making. Not unlike anything else you do. You get better the more you do it. I am curious about our next releases, what they will be.

The one thing that really surprised me as a novice musician, however, was that although music has always been very important to me, I have never had a hand in actually making music until this project. It only proves that my creativity could be channelled into music as well. And I love it.

S-L: Isak, what has it been like working with Thomas and following his development?

Isak: Bérèche You was going to be a project where I would invite many different artists to collaborate, which the first album demonstrated well. However, the collaboration with Thomas developed into something much more because he has a really good flair for catchy lyrics and melodies. He has definitely had a sharp learning curve, which is rather impressive.
We believe that every synthpop lover around the globe will strongly welcome this collection of well-crafted synthpop tracks.

S-L: The album title—any connection to the release date, Valentine’s Day?

Isak: The album title The Price Of Love is actually a little homage to an old Depeche Mode cover from when they were called Composition of Sound. The original was a song by Everly Brothers, but almost nobody knows about that any longer. That is our nod to DM. About Valentine’s Day… You could say love always exacts a price, but you can never tell exactly what. The price of love could be so many things, but the rewards are always worth it. Almost always. February 14^th is forever a day dedicated to love, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to release a new album with this title on that day. We believe in love in itself.

The band are doing their debut live show alongside Henric de la Cour in Oslo on February 21^st 2025.

About Bérèche You

Isak Rypdal has had an extensive musical career since the early 90s with bands such as Doctor No, Freeloader and Electro Spectre. Music from Doctor No and Freeloader has topped the charts in Norway and received heavy rotattion on international radio such as BBC Radio 1 in the UK. His live performances have included playing at ‘We Love The 90’s’ and over 100 live shows around the world. With Electro Spectre Isak has been so fortunate to be able to support bands such as OMD, Marsheaux, Zeromancer, Covenant, Melotron and Mesh, to mention a few.

On the new album Isak has collaborated with his good friend, -the talented songwriter Cassiel Agrippa, who has a brilliant ear for good melodies. Cassiel Agrippa has been involved in Electro Spectre and other previous work from Crab Key Studio for a long time, -creating visual media such as artwork in addition to live photography for the bands.

‘The Price of Love’ is due to be released on February 14^th 2025.

Listen to the album right here, or at Spotify | Tidal | Apple Music | Amazon | Deezer | You Tube Music

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

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(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Bérèche You press release) While the Norwegian electropop act Bérèche You prepares for “The Price of Love” album launch and their upcoming concert, they have released the teaser single “Adore Me” again featuring Cassiel Agrippa, along with a lyric video.

“I’ve done the tango, and I have done the swing, but then along came sweet and spice” – this line captures the essence of the track, a fresh yet classic ’80s-style synthpop tune. The song encapsulates everything that the Norwegian synthpop label Crab Key Records stands for.

The band will be playing their debut live show alongside Henric de la Cour in Oslo on February 21^st 2025.

‘The Price of Love’ is due to be released on February 14^th 2025. Listen to ‘Adore Me’ at multiple platforms right here, plus also Tidal.

About Bérèche You

Bérèche You is the latest musical endeavor of Norwegian producer Isak Rypdal, renowned for his work with bands like Doctor No, Freeloader, and of course Electro Spectre. In this project, Rypdal collaborates with various artists, including songwriter Thomas C. A. Brevik, known as Cassiel Agrippa, who contributes vocals and lyrics. Additionally, vocalist Madil Hardis has lent her talents to the project.

In May 2024, they released the album “Business of Love”, featuring tracks like “Mama, Dada,” “Someone Like Me” (featuring Cassiel Agrippa), and “Elevation”.

In the autumn of 2024, Bérèche You released a cover of The Beloved’s 1993 hit “Sweet Harmony,” again featuring Cassiel Agrippa.

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange