Cousteaux

CousteauX represents the return of the European pop outfit Cousteau after its 2006 disbandment, with vocalist Liam McKahey and songwriter Davey Ray Moor—the group’s core creative partnership—now standing as its only remaining participants. The appended “X,” though unvoiced, leaves the pronunciation unchanged while denoting both the ten-year separation and the dual sense of “a kiss … and a scar.” In the band’s official press materials Moor described the motivations behind the reunion: “Ten years apart led us to appreciate the synergy we have. Sometimes musicians find a unique match in one another. We’re one singer/songwriter in the bodies of two people. Because Cousteau were pre-aged and kind of timeless, the music still sounds today as it did yesterday. We’ve only become stranger and stronger now that we’re older.”

Ahead of the full release, the video singles “BURMA” (Be Upstairs My Angel) and “The Innermost Light” appeared; the latter track was jointly written by Moor and the Libertines’ Carl Barât. Silentx Records, the duo’s own imprint, issued the album in fall 2017, after which tours of Europe and America commenced.