Nôze - Songs on the Rocks
Nicolas Sfintescu and his friend Ezechiel Pailhes aka Nôze will release a new album called “Songs on the Rocks” on Get Physical on April 25, 2008.
Nicolas and Ezechiel wrote most of the songs from the piano parts up, building harmonic structures around them. After the timpani-heavy scene-setter of ‘L’Inconnu Du Placard’, Nôze unveil a proper love song, their first ever song in French, ‘Danse Avec Moi’ - and with typical perversity they’ve enlisted an American singer, the one and only Dani Siciliano, to provide the vocals. Dani duets mellifluously with French singer David Lafore (who also penned the lyrics) over a propulsive drum tattoo, bouncy bassline, rippling harp and lavish string arrangements. As it is so often the case with Nôze, the piano is at the forefront of the arrangement, providing not just straightforward melody and harmony but also rhythm. The carnivalesque atmosphere continues into ‘Little Bug’, which has the feel of a 1930s barroom singalong, all boogie-woogie pianos, drunken horns and aching clarinets. For ‘Childhood Blues’, Nico is back with his inimitable bluesy bark’n’growl, set against plangent chords, subtle electronic edits and swelling brass. ‘You Have To Dance’ is based around the kind of skippy techno rhythm you might remember from Nôze’s club favourites ‘Kitchen’ and ‘Love Affair’, with the duo reminding us that “You have to dance, you have to dance, you have to drink, you have to drink all night to remember that you’re a light!”. ‘Slum Girl’ is cinematic in its scope and musicality, with marching snares and swooping orchestral flourishes, offset by spy-flick guitar licks, piano arpeggios and Nico’s glottal vox. ‘Ethiopo’ is an irresistible shuffle of percussion and cut-up flute - the perfect entrée for the track which should need no introduction - ‘Remember Love’, with its classic Chicago house piano riff, bittersweet lyrics and boompty techno momentum.
The album draws to a close with a re-reading of Nôze’s signature track ‘Kitchen’. In its original form of a crazed, effusive and unashamedly horny blend of sub-bass techno, skittish electro squiggles and Nico’s most unhinged vocal performance to date. Here ‘Kitchen’ is re-imagined as a gentle, reflective piano ballad, with lush vocal harmonies that cast the lyric “I’ll make you cum, all night long” in an altogether new light. Nôze’s sense of mischief reigns, capping an album as remarkable for its humour, irreverence and love of life as its vast musical sophistication and razor-sharp production edge. In a world that takes itself so seriously, Nôze once again remind us of the value of the absurd.
Tracklisting:
1. L’Inconnu Du Placard
2. Danse Avec Moi
3. Little Bug
4. Childhood Blues
5. You Have To Dance
6. Slum Girl
7. Ethiopo
8. Remember Love
9. Kitchen (Pop Version)
