Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Synapson, Parlophone/Warner Music 2018.
Synapson is a French electronica duo who have sold 150,000 albums and have over 100 million streams to their credit.
They’ve just completed a sold-out tour of Europe and have achieved considerable chart success in France and Belgium with their singles, Djon Maya MaA, and All in You, reaching 12 and 10 respectively.
The duo formed in 2009 and consist of multi-instrumentalists Alexandre Chiere (Keyboards, Saxophone, beats and vocal) and Paul Cucuron (drums, scratch, record production, and mixing).
The album fuses their trademark electro pop with two related but different styles: nu-disco and deep house.
As is the fashion these days they have obtained the services of an array of guest performers from many different continents to assist them, with Australia being represented by Holly from the band Archive.
She provides the vocal on the excellent track Hide Away.
In addition to Holly, the international cast includes Mai-Lan from M83, Kaleem Taylor and L Marshall from the UK, Casey Abrams (Idyllwind) from California, Miami born and Paris based rapper Beat Assailant, Jamaica born but London based Taneisha Jackson, Senegalese singer/songwriter Lass among others.
As many of you would be aware, electro pop, disco and house aren’t my preferred musical forms.
Country falls into the same category and it takes something a bit different and special to interest me enough to listen to a whole album and there’s something different about what these two Frenchmen are into.
Although they are still working within the confines of their respective genres there’s a difference to the sounds and production that presented this album as being something new and refreshing.
They leave a lot of space which is good.
You can tell that everybody concerned was having a lot of fun.
Tracks often finish with laughter and chat from the assembled musicians. In some cases possibly because they were still discovering how to end the song.
There’s also a variety of rhythms and tempos.
Tracks vary considerably providing interest. For instance the track, Sex You Up, featuring Casey Abrams stands completely alone being a classic piece of Soul-based rhythm and blues with a wicked beat.
It’s possibly the best track on the disc.
