Cyclorama

Parisian duo Polo & Pan (Paul Armand-Delille and Alexandre Grynszpan, respectively) have made a name for themselves as producers of infectious, bouncy electronic pop with strong tropical highlights and a colorful, sometimes retro aesthetic. Their 2017 debut album, Caravelle, featured a panoply of quirky samples and singers and stood out thanks to both its tight craft and loungey elegance. Polo & Pans delightful 2020 EP Feel Good seems to have been a precursor to this second full-length, Cyclorama, as three of the EPs four cuts have been folded into this set. Like the duos debut, Cyclorama is fashionable, melodic, and undeniably fun, mixing dancefloor appeal with smart pop songwriting. Not unlike their European forebears Air and Royksopp, Polo & Pan blur the lines between electronic musics traditional roles of producer, artist, DJ, remixer, and composer, managing a bit of each with plenty of finesse while creating a distinctive brand of their own. And they sing! The cinematic Ani Kuni is the albums showstopper here with its cinematic Morricone-like intro and choral melody based on an Indigenous Arapaho chant. The albums sequence winds through carefully paced moods, pitting dark against light with the eerie Requiem into Feel Good combo before moving into its second half. Polo & Pan have an impressive sense of scope, moving through myriad exotic landscapes without losing sight of their signature sonic palette and innate sense of class. The result feels like a sumptuous global journey accompanied by a cocktail tray and two impossibly suave tuxedoed guides. ~ Timothy Monger

仏メディアが〈ダフト・パンクの後継者〉として賛辞を寄せるプロデューサー・デュオが4年ぶりとなる2作目をリリース。アルバム・タイトルから窺い知れるように本人たちもすっかりその気(?)のようで、彼らが影響を受けたと公言するエールの叙情性、ジョルジオ・モロダーのエロティシズム、LCDサウンドシステムのダイナミズムを融合しながらもフレンチ・タッチのその先を鮮やかに描き出している。多国籍ノスタルジック・ディスコ"Ani Kuni"、ボタニカル・テクノ"Tunnel"、レイドバックした雰囲気のゆるふわな先行カット"Feel Good"など、手札の種類もさまざま。デビュー作は〈宇宙の旅〉、今作は人類の生誕～成長～死を経た〈冒険の旅〉ということで、いずれはやっぱりロボットになったりして……。
bounce (C)野村有正