Exsonvaldes - Maps

More than 7 years after their previous album, they are back. In the meantime, 2 of them had dedicated themselves to the Ravages project and its 2 good synthpop EPs in French.

With Maps, they find their way back, the way of a quality punchy pop. 10 choruses, each more attractive than the last, in French and English every other song, quickly settle in your head with happiness. The Parisian trio even affords a featuring of Franco-British Emma Broughton aka Blumi ("Barbican").

The whole thing moves quite a bit, impossible to stay in place. As the 3 musicians had a scientific higher education, singer Simon makes the assumption that they kept a taste for searching effectiveness in their compositions and arrangements. For example, you will notice a supercharged "Dansé". Hmmm... I'm not sure whether the text is really about dance.
On the other hand, "Party People" is not as energetic as the title might have you believe. But what a melody! Certainly it resembles others from their previous albums (for connoisseurs), but what a beautiful and pleasant thing it is to hum, as much as to listen to, with its guitar slides in the background.

The listening declines a little after the excellent "Rien Appris". "Torino" was the 1st single released months before the album and I already didn't like it very much, finding it a bit dull. I haven't really changed my mind. And "Tout Est Pardonné" is of the same ilk.

When you dissect the lyrics, you question change, party and alcohol, memory loss, hyperacusis, eco-anxiety, London and Brexit. As always with the creators of "L'Aérotrain", the lyrics, at first glance, seem light, minimalist, detached, a simple foil to the music. Except that, by dint of listening, you realise their scope and their interest.
In short, intact pleasure, winning return. Let's hope we don't have to wait 7 years for a 6th album.