by Ljubinko Zivkovic (@zivljub)
It has become quite a fad among popsters these days to go the lounge/bossa nova way, thinking that you can simply copy the rhythms and/or instrumentation of this type of music and you are all set to woo the crowds sitting at the beach at sunset with their cocktails in hand. Of course, getting the feel of a sound and coming up with something that is musically your own goes beyond simple copy/paste or emulating a style. There are only a few Stereolab's and St. Etienne’s out there that can do this.
Well, maybe we can add to that list the French-American duo Pearl & The Oysters. From the first grooves of 'Soft Science' which opens their third album Flowerland you get the sense that Juliette Davis and Joachim Polack aka Pearl & Oysters go much deeper in their explorations of the so-called light grooves, actually making them carry some serious musical weight.
All the tracks on the album, like the intricate 'Treasure Island' bring along some shuffling rhythms and layered melodies, filled with subdued electronic embellishments. Quickly, it becomes obvious that Davis and Polack are much better students of the musical genres they employ than the usual Pina Colada exploiters. In that way they might resemble some of their Brazilian Tropicalia sound heroes, so it is no wonder that their version of Caetano Veloso's "Baby" finds its way on the album. As with their Tropicalia heroes, P&TO are also able to bring in some subtle lyrical themes on quite serious subjects.
In that respect, it is also not surprising that P&TO engage a world-wide crew of collaborators that make Flowerland sound as much more than a sum of its parts. Actually, it is an album that will make any of your summer cocktails more palpable.