Night sketches

Description

Who doesn't still remember their hit Ann Wants To Dance? Soundtrack of summer 2015 and directed by Soko (several million views), this sunny and addictive earworm laid the foundations for the four-handed songwriting of Ulysse Cottin (the brunet) and Armand Penicaut (the blond). These two showmen, who compose and sing indifferently in the language of John Lennon, set the jovial tone on the cover of their debut album, Green Juice (2016), recorded at Cap Ferret and mixed by Ash Workman (Metronomy, Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains, Baxter Dury). Because Papooz practices the art of swaying pop and unstoppable groove like few of their compatriots - apart from Phoenix, we can't think of any. One foot in tropical pop, the other in unbridled bossa and their heads in the American seventies, Ulysse and Armand are a perfect match. Falsely dilettante and damn inspired, the tandem fights the surrounding gloom with songs.And what better news in the middle of winter than a Papooz record to raise the temperature? If we spare you the overused cliché of the "difficult-second-album-syndrome", Night Sketches reveals another side of the duo. More electric and nocturnal in nature, this record is the fruit of meticulous production work, in close collaboration with Adrien Durand, the mastermind behind Bon Voyage Organisation (BVO) who signs its brilliant production. "Unlike our first album, which gathered miscellaneous songs written over years and recorded without the science of production or arrangement, we 'mentalized' this new record. We wanted to bridge the seventies and the eighties, while being even groovier." A clever mix of classic pop (Steely Dan at the forefront) and synthpop for a dizzying result. "Their strength is songwriting," Adrien Durand admits without hesitation.Surrounded by top studio musicians - drummer Wendy Killmann (BVO, Adrien Gallo), bassist Maxime Daoud (Forever Pavot, Ojard) and saxophonist Julien Cavard (BVO, Amadou & Mariam) -, the two Papooz can thus give free rein to their artistic ambitions, perfectly fulfilled by the BVO leader with his XXL culture. Mixed by Italian Andrea Suriani (Cosmo, Calcutta, Giorgio Poi), Night Sketches highlights the writing and composition, both classic and modern pop, of Ulysse and Armand. From the obvious opening single (You And I) to a poignant ballad (About Felix inspired by the loss of a friend), from irresistible hooks (Theatrical State Of Mind and Pacific Telephone, whose title is taken from a poem by Bukowski) to an impetuous saxophone (Let The Morning Come Again), from a soft rock track (Danger To Myself, the first excerpt from the album) to a ska turn (Undecided), Papooz denies itself nothing. And wins unanimous approval without a fight.