Le SuperHomard - MeadowLanePark

(This review first appeared in issue #88 of Shindig! magazine.)


There's a strain of cinematic French music that feeds head and heart, and is fixed on the central tenets of style and sophistication. You can join the dots from Jean Claude Vannier to Air through to its latest progenitors - Le SuperHomard, an Avignon-based quintet led by Christophe Vaillant.

MeadowLanePark is the group's first full-length LP following 2015's mini-album The Maple Key and recent release The Pomegranate EP. Recorded during closed hours in the music shop where Vaillant works, the results are a joy, ebbing through sunshine pop, breezy electro, and gently playful psychedelia. The group make good use of the instruments to hand with vintage synths, harpsichords and strings making up the sonic palette. The band's key influences (Stereolab, Saint Etienne, Broadcast) can be heard but their sense of self wins out. Whether it's the evocative instrumental 'In The Park' or the electronic textures of 'SDVB', MeadowLanePark is one of this years early gems.