Synth-led psychedelic pop from France? Yes please!
If there are any regular readers out there,
they’ll know that that we thrive on eclecticism here at Harmonic Distortion.
Any genre is welcome, be it jazz, pop, any rock offshoots, improv, afrobeat, or
indeed anything that’s totally unclassifiable. The only prerequisite for the
music we cover here is that it’s made with passion and can move you. My own tastes
have broadened in ways I would never have expected since I first became hooked
on listening to music as a young boy. One constant passion throughout the
intervening years has been my love of folk music – the stories, education it
offers, its often-direct presentation. It’s a touchstone that I keep returning
to when I need any kind of renewal.
I mention this because I’ve been enjoying the debut album by Hayden Besswood recently. Besswood (AKA French musician Quentin Le Gorrec) started out making folk music, and it’s from this spark that his music has exploded and expanded into new sonic territory. Colors & Vows is far from a folk record, apart from the song ‘But Not You Anymore’ where Quentin shows he’s also a skilled finger-style guitarist in addition to the talent for arranging and layering synths he displays on the album’s other tracks. If forced to pin it down I’d say Colors & Vows is more of psychedelic synth-pop record, though trying to pin out down to a genre does it a disservice.
Quentin started his musical journey playing in the folk scene in his hometown, the port city of Saint Nazaire, before moving to nearby Nantes. It was here that his music became more kaleidoscopic, using a wealth of vintage synth sounds, and really getting to grips with studio and tape manipulation. For all its experimental aspects Colors & Vows maintains a homespun DIY charm and has a brace of ultra-catchy tunes with lyrics that have human contact and emotion at their core. It’s brought to you by the good people at the Requiem Pour Un Twister record label who have previously released music by HD favourites such as Triptides and The Young Sinclairs. I recommend you give it a good listen, it’s sure to move you.
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