PART moody synthesiser and jazz jam, part jolly pop, but always very French, the latest album from Francois & The Atlas Mountains is hard to dislike, but difficult to pin down.
Opener Bois is dark and features an extended outro with riffing saxophone, while next track La Verite is a happy-go-lucky foot tapper, and The Way To The Forest is somewhere in between. Comparisons are difficult, although elements are reminiscent of Flaming Lips and Air, particularly the more upbeat tracks, which echo the former’s joyful style closely.
You should also expect to hear Summer Of The Heart on television adverts as the weather heats up this year, while the title track is another piano-led pleaser. Elswhere, the ballad La Fille aux Cheveux de Soie is a winner, with synthetic strings and lilting vocals.
It doesn’t seem to matter so much that you may not understand the lyrics - which are mostly in the band’s mother tongue - because the music underneath speaks more clearly than the words might.
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