Paris te brutalise, t’immortalise
Te brutalise, t’immortalise
A city can bruise you and still be the place you most want to remember your name. Paris makes that bargain especially seductive. You go there to become someone, then spend half your time figuring out how to dress, speak, and carry yourself so nobody can tell how badly you want to belong. In Anton’s Serpent Des Villes, black rain comes down, and the city lights go out. By then, Paris has already exacted its tribute. It has taught you to keep up appearances even in the dark.
“Paris te brutalise, t’immortalise,” sings Anton Steinbock. Paris brutalizes you, Paris immortalizes you, and the ease with which one verb follows the other makes the promise sound like a threat. Then comes the refrain, “Y’a rien de pire qu’être parfait” (there’s nothing worse than being perfect), repeated until it sounds as much like a private admonition as a public accusation. Out November 6, “Serpent Des Villes” is the first single from Anton’s forthcoming EP, Tôt Ou Tard.
An organ-like synth picks out a bright, clipped melody over a lower electronic throb and the dry crunch of the drum machine. The French new wave inflection is there before Steinbock sings a word. His voice glides over the beat, giving the French vowels room to stretch while wiry post-punk guitars answer at the ends of his lines. About two-thirds of the way through, the arrangement takes a breath and a rippling bass synth comes forward, giving the song a loose-hipped shuffle on its way to the final refrain. It’s a trick French coldwave has long made its own. The tune is so inviting you catch yourself singing along before you’ve reckoned with the words.
The video finds Steinbock alone in a park, where two crows pick over the lawn and branches fill the frame. He paces, turns with his arms flung out, and brings a hand to his face. From a bench beneath the trees, he sings with the same agitation that sends him back onto the path. By the end, the camera looks up at him against a grey sky and his face is nearly lost in silhouette. He has room to move here, though the urgency of his gestures suggests that getting away from the city and getting it out of your head are two very different things.
Watch the video for Serpent Des Villes below.
Steinbock launched Anton as a solo darkwave project in Paris in 2024, drawing on bands like Joy Division and Lebanon Hanover while singing in French, German, and English. His debut EP Volcan came out that May on Detriti Records, and Anton’s initial live quartet shared bills with TRAITRS, Nürnberg, and Sad Madona. Icy Cold Records issued Glacier / Volcan in March 2025, featuring the standout “L’Autre Destination”. Artist Sylvester Engbrox provided the album artwork and also worked on the videos for the double single Never Freed Myself. Anton played its first international dates in Italy at the end of 2025. The project now performs as a duo, with Steinbock on bass and vocals and artist Gabriela Guyez on synths and vocals.
Listen to “Serpent Des Villes” below and order the single here
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