ballyhoo media

Full Service PR / Music Promotion

Juveniles – Without Warning

VÖ: 24.03.2017
Artist: Juveniles
Titel: Without Warning
Label: Capitol / Universal Music France
Formate: Digital
Styles: Electro-Pop

Das französische Electro-Pop Duo Juveniles hat seine Wurzeln in der Bretagne, einer Region, die dafür bekannt ist, eine gewisse Leidenschaft und Neugier dafür zu haben die Welt zu entdecken. Obwohl sie definitiv in Richtung Manchester, The Smiths und New Order schauten, und eine Vorliebe für achtziger Jahre Keyboard-Sounds haben, begannen sie ihre Live-Karriere in Frankreich. Nach einem furiosen Start Ende 2011 folgte bereits wenige Monate später die Veröffentlichung der ersten EP «We Are Young» auf Kitsuné. Das Debutalbum „Juveniles“, produziert von Yuksek, erschien im Juni 2013, gefolgt von Tourneen in Frankreich, Europa, China, Südostasien und Südamerika.

Nach dem Split mit Partner Thibaut Doray gründete Jean-Sylvain Le Gouic sein eigenes Label Paradis Rec., richtete sich ein Studio ein und entwickelt den Sound von Juveniles als Soloact weiter. Auf dem zweiten Juveniles Album zeigt sich die Entwicklung von Jean-Sylvain sowohl in seinen Kompositionen, als auch in der Zusammenarbeit mit Produzenten wie Yuksek, Helen Feng, Joakim, Clarens, Le Comte, Lenparot,

Zusammen mit Drummer Christopher Berry (The Juan McLean, Holy Ghost!, Yeasayer) und dem Bassisten Ben Campbell (Big Data) gab Jean-Sylvain bei Joakim Bouaziz in dessen Crowdspacer-Studio in NYC dem zweiten Juveniles Album den letzten Schliff.

Durch die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Produzenten und „Jack of all trades“ Joakim, dessen musikalischer Background von Disco bis Heavy Metal, Afrikanischer Musik, Techno und Acid House reicht, bekommt der Electro-Pop Sound von Juveniles die Wärme und den anlogen Touch den Jean sich gewünscht hat. Beide haben sich bei der Produktion auf eine Kombination aus pre-digitalem mixing und computergestützter Techniken geeinigt: Der Computer dient dabei lediglich als Mehrspur-Sampler, und das gesamte Mischen erfolgt analog, am Schreibtisch und mit externer Hardware . Zuletzt wird der Mix dann auf ein altes 2-Spur Band überspielt.

Die Songs auf „Without Warning“ sind mal eingängig und ausgelassen, dann wieder sehr intim. Jean-Sylvain crooned ebenso elegant wie ätherisch zu sinnlichem Pop der ständig mit dem Feuer spielt.

Die erste Single ''Someone Better'' ( VÖ: 13.01.17) ist ein catchy, uptempo Popsong in dem die wundervolle Stimme von Jean-Sylvain perfekt mit dem treibenden Bass und den Sounds harmoniert.




TRACK BY TRACK


INTRO

Thoughts on the record, track by track, written in a train from Paris to our beloved Rennes. Tracks might not be in order to respect some of the cycles that exist on the record.

Before working with Joakim I used to listen to his songs, they were always in my dj setlists. I just loved how they were composed, mixed. We were introduced by a mutual friend, and after some mails/skypes and a brief talk in a parisian café I flew to New York to meet him in his studio - Crowdspacer. I also have my own studio in Rennes so I had all the material already to make this record, but Joakim had a sound in his head when first hearing the demos I had sent. He decided to re-record some elements with his own gear to give it the color he intended, a certain warmth and above all a human touch.

This was the motto during the production and mixing of this record, we worked on an analogue desk with analogue gear, he even resampled and played the drum machines by hand on an old SP1200. When the studio day would end we would bounce the mix onto his 2-track tape recorder, take notes at the hotel, and finish the song the next morning.

This urgency and the confidence I had in this guy’s talents made the collaboration very interesting and gave life to the record. And that’s exactly why I wanted to work with him.


Love Me For Ever (Yuksek Remix)

It was written right after we finished mixing the first LP with Yuksek, it made sense to have it as a kind of transition and to have Pierre-Alexandre working on it. There’s also an alternative mix by Joakim we plan to release in the future. I love the drums on this one, played by Guillaume Rossel of Rachid Taha, DBFC, DyE. It’s a kind of egocentric / prophetic mantra that could either be applied to a relationship or to playing in a band.


I CAN WAIT

This one is about telling a friend suffering from depression that we can wait for him, as long as he needs. Just be there if he needs us, and pick up where we left when he feels like it. Chris (drums) & Ben (bass) really made this song stand out, working with these guys was incredible.


DECOYS

We all change, everyday, every second, don’t compromise your message or you won’t recognize yourself. This song was composed over a hazy night spent in our studio with Christophe Le Comte, our machine / keyboard guy who recently started his own experimental ambiant project « Le Comte » which I produce as well.


SOMEONE BETTER & LOVERS ARE A DYING BREED

These two are breakup songs. I like to thing « Someone better » is the childish version with hints of old school 80’s disco funk titles whereas Lovers is more of a « grow up and ask yourself the right question » type. As a result Someone Better has a more poetic licence approach, Lovers is a bit more honest.


COMFORT GIRL (FT. HELEN FENG)

Helen Feng from the Chinese band Nova Heart wrote this one, I think I remember having a conversation with her about it being about comfort girl for soldiers. For two years in a row we did an Asian tour, mainly focused on China, we met Helen playing in Yugong Yishan a very cool venue in Beijing - I met Andy Rourke and was a little starstruck that night but that’s an other story. So the second year we’ve rent a studio and worked on a couple of tracks. This one was actually written on the road, I remember tracking vocals on my mac microphone in my hotel room. They sounded horrible, I think we kept a few though.


PARASOMNIA / PANOPTICON

Some of the songs I consider to be the more intimistic on this record were written when I was really down and felt a bit suffocated by all the pressure. I suffer from night paralysis quite often. Basically you wake up, conscious but completely paralyzed and you have to « breathe manually » because your brain doesn’t do it for you hence the suffocating sensation. There can also be visual hallucinations because you’re not fully awake yet. It’s a bit weird to explain, it has affected humans from all ages and was always connected to evil forces. Both these songs are part of the same cycle.


UNDER ONE NAME

Also one of the fastest track I’ve written, so I’m still apprehending the lyrics on a personal level. In music as in writing I tend to use a lot of stream-of-consciousness exercises and collages, sometimes controlled chaos - or stochastic. I’ve programmed some of my sequencers and weird boxes and I sometime spend hours on them fiddling till I find something I like and build on it.


INTERLUDE / SOLIPSISM

Solipsism might have been of the funniest to record and is so emphatic of the way Joakim works. I came to his studio with my drum machine takes on my computer, he didn’t quite like how they sounded, a bit too plastic, so he decided to chop everything up, put the samples in an old SP1200, play the beat by hand and throw it into all kind of effects and old school reverbs. This was one of these « wow » moments for me in the studio, this guy actually uses his studio as an instrument.

Solipsism is the idea that you’re only sure of the existence of your mind and that everything around you from the external worlds to other consciousnesses is to be doubted. Interlude is a kind of self delusion / mantra, it repeats « all my friends are here » endlessly in a airy distant voice as a reminder without much conviction.


ENTITLED TO HAPPINESS

Might be one of the most personal/bittersweet song I’ve ever written. Also one of the fastest, I think the vocals is one take of improv late at night in the studio. Basically says f*** it, you can’t change your childhood. Don’t be a moron and just allow yourself to be happy.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys4jwYv4Oqk



Links

https://www.facebook.com/Juvenilesband/?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/Juvenilesband

https://www.instagram.com/juvenilesband/

https://www.youtube.com/user/juvenilesvevo

https://juvenilesband.com/

Cover

Pressebilder