Acid Washed : 'Acid Washed'
Released: Out Now!!!
Label: Records Makers
Confessional time. I, in reality, actually know very little about this Parisian bunch (except, of course, that they are Parisian) and they are into making dreamy, disco-infused electronica of the sort that is rather popular at the moment, and deservedly so.
Opener, “General Motors, Detroit, America”, is all hypnotic rhythms while sparking synths shimmer around them over solid disco beats and some excellent clap work. Arguably the finest opening to an album I have heard this year. “Snake” takes a different tack, immediately striking one as a being a darker piece. Brooding vocals surround electronic horns while strings sear through underneath to create a tense aura and an almost menacing closeness. A late night piece for dark rooms and dirty times.
“Change” plays on the previous tracks tension with tightly wound loops and synth lines, building into a tribal breakdown across the midsection before dropping away into a predominantly percussion free spiral and coming full circle, with added dreamy melodies. While, “Concorde In The Sunrise” seems like the perfect song to break up some epic Holy Ghost! remixes in a warm set with its deep, swirling layers. The title track really injects some 80’s funk into the equation creating the first real “fun” track on the record. The huge synth stabs quite simply make you want to get up and jump around like the bastard offspring of Prince and Frankie Knuckles. Basically, very cool indeed.
“Bikini Atoll”, meanwhile, sounds like Massive Attack might, if they still wrote good songs and weren’t from somewhere as miserable as Bristol, i.e. Paris. “Apply” (which features fellow French artist Lippie) takes it’s beat straight out of Dizzee’s “Fix Up…” (or the original, where he pinched it) and gives a less harsh disco make over, and features Chellos; shich is cool, as not enough songs use chellos well. Meanwhile, “Royal Soda” bursts out of the speakers like some sort of tropical, eighties monstrosity, which I mean in a completely amazing way. Imagine if Wham were straight and made disco not pop. Or something like that anyhow. Next up, ”The Rain” gives us squelchy loops and some more vocals. It’s all a bit more serious here, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun as there are still enough bleeps and 80’s disco influence here for a party, just a smaller party.
“Snows Melt”, another track featuring Lippie, is probably the most subtle moment on the album with the focus all over the percussion and vocal lines; the synths being used more as an in between vocal adhesive. Closing us out is “Amour Fatal” which slows right down and brings out a synth line that is, no hint of a lie, to die for.
So, to sum up concisely; this summer you will mostly find me lying in the sun with a vodka or pimms and this record.
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