- Label
- Lucky Number Music
- Release date
- 25th February 2008
- Genre
- Electronic
- Buy this album
- Order CD
French visionary hits wrong notes in trying to refine elements of his protean style
To many, Sebastien Tellier - the impressively-bearded Frenchman who manages to combine early 20th century-style piano composition, golden-era soundtrack music and unmistakeably Gallic electronics - may only be familiar from 2006's huge indie hit La Ritournelle. These people - while presumably being enamoured with his last release, the cobbled-together but still utterly incredible Universe - may be disappointed by his avoidance, on Sexuality, of the epic, swooping end-of-the-night piano-led torch songs, and focus on shell-suited, Moog-bothering retro electro (or "relectro", as we're calling it).
Since Daft Punk released Discovery, we have been greeted by a slew of partial imitators - Phoenix, RJD2, Chromeo, anyone who's ever worked with Thomas Bangalter - and therefore this focus on the synth-led, falsetto-vocalled electro tracks which littered Politics (the album which featured La Ritournelle) is a bit misguided. From the tired "ooh la la" of Sexual Sportswear to the phased synths and doo-wop of Divine (which sounds like a one-man, bedroom-produced Super Furry Animals - not such a good thing) this suffers from a distinct lack of the kind of experimentation and brilliance which marked him out as one to watch in the first place. Well done, but disappointing.
More to try: Super Furry Animals: Phantom Power RJD2: The Third Hand
