aaamusic | On 27, Apr 2011

“Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” is the first single from Strange Moosic, the new album from French folk-rock duo Herman Dune. With a gorgeously lilting, melody sung in their idiosyncratic vocal style, “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” is a great start to their album and ushers in the warmth and joy of summer.

Formed over ten years ago, Herman Dune have forged a path for themselves, breaking through their DIY roots, to be embraced by a wider audience all across the world. Consisting of David-Ivar Herman Dune (vocals/guitar) and Cosmic Neman (drums), their focus is on song structure and melody, keeping the arrangements simple and allowing each individual song to shine through.

“Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” is an ode to the jaded and the disenchanted. It tells everyday life in a relationship; the trips to restaurants or the movies; visits to the record store with the know-it-all music-fan being cynical about all the new bands; lying in bed while the other person has to get up with the alarm clock – all told in an light-hearted, anecdotal style with the laconic “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” refrain.

The video for the track is due to be unveiled soon and stars a cuddly, baby-blue Yeti and Mad Men’s Jon Hamm. The video was directed by Toben Seymour (who has directed several Herman Dune videos) and was shot in Austin, Texas. According to Hamm in a recent article for Interview Magazine the plot goes something like this: “It’s a little story about a lost yeti, a lost little snowman creature, abominable snowman, who is blue and sad because he is lost; and he gets picked up by me, and I decide to try to cheer him up by taking him to a rock-and-roll show in Austin, Texas, which I think works.”

The album Strange Moosic is due out on 6 June and is their most “pop” album to date whilst still maintaining their unique, affably laid-back folk style. The band will be touring the UK in May.

4 June – Bristol – Thekla

5 June – Brighton – Coalition

6 June – London – XOYO (w/ Comet Gain and Tigercats)