Under The Influence

Looking back a couple of years my mind falls on a period where I can recall listening to very little else besides this album. Fred Avril was one of the great Pandora finds for me - The Date in particular. I'm not sure how much popularity Avril gained in his home country of France but his Prix Constantine award (similar to the Mercury prize) suggests to me that he wasn't entirely unknown.

In any case, this work is very special indeed. You can tell it's had a lot of time put into it. Every last little sound feels 120% considered. I almost picture the guy going insane in the studio adjusting and readjusting every last little dial. Maybe that's how he got to the point of discussing killing his girlfriend in Like Everybody Else (itself a pop masterpiece, by the way) - complete with noises of sharpening of knifes.

The sound itself is generally all about smooth, dark electronic production, but he executes the realisation in a number of different ways. Some of the tracks like Helium Life Boat are particularly ambient while others (eg French Kiss) are really dancey.

One of my top picks of 2005.