Visit the Facebook page of Paume, aka twenty-something Parisian Hugo Billonet, and you’re presented with a long list of posted links to various music videos, from HNNY to Royksopp to Phillip Glass. Disparate artists in many senses, but perhaps united in their predilection for unusual yet intuitive use of harmony in their respective work. What’s more, if that is what joins the dots in Paume’s musical tastes then it’s an influence that also presents itself at work in the debut EP from Paume.
Opening track Transalpine is a melodic house jam. Swinging kicks accompany a big piano hook, shimmering electronic melodies and the kind of breakdowns that continually warp and reconfigure the composition, allowing it to become increasingly urgent in tone. Yet whilst the instrumental elements are a powerful concoction in themselves, it’s the vocals that make this such a strong opening number. Managing to sound both euphoric and melancholic at the same time, the lyrics amplify the emotiveness driving the track perpetually onward and upwards. Perhaps too much for some, this has the kind of character and charisma that should make it a hit.
Follies follows it, and operates on a similar vibe, asserting a weave of deep-beats and off-kilter electronic harmonies. Like Transalpine, it is the wonderful blend of unusual yet expansive (perhaps even overstated) arpeggio melodies that make the track so memorable, sounding at times almost like a hallucinogenic reworking of a late 90’s progressive house number. Wonderfully weird and dance-floor friendly at the same time.
Heavy sounding pads, a subdued low-end and tropical samples provide the meat of Juno Beach, complemented by lovesick vocals and a guitar-riff that gradually takes centre stage. It’s a track with a kind of slow-mo Balearic tenderness to it, but which still has enough of a swing to it to ensure that it will keep the party going (optimally, a beach party). The kind of cut you can imagine John Talabot dropping and for me, the highlight of the EP.
Final track Love Fifteen offers a fittingly idiosyncratic conclusion. A minimalist piano refrain opens proceedings, gradually joined by distorted samples. The bassline emerges at the two minute mark, accompanied with soulful vocals and tender chimes. Like all the other tracks included on the package, it’s the kind of track which perpetually unfolds and changes tact, offering new dimensions to itself and sucking the listener into its own auricular narrative.
All in all, Transalpine EP is a very auspicious debut. Refreshing, emotive and heartfelt, these are four tracks that you can dance to and yet, which don’t sound as if they have been designed with only that intention in mind. To echo the age old cliché of dance-music hacks, these are cuts that transcend the dance-floor. If there is any criticism to be made, it’s that there is a fine-line between pouring your heart into a track and laying it on thick .The approach to melody works on maximalist tracks like ‘Follies’ and ‘Transalpine’, and one thing Paume clearly knows how to do is to craft a hook, but let’s hope that as his discography expands, so does his tonal range and approach to producing. Yet, it’s minor quibble and very minor indeed considering Billonet’s clear capacity for making music that speaks to the heart.
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