Gaspard Augé - Escapades
The audible equivalent of a shooting star...
Is there any Justice in the world? Not right now! But we do have *Gaspard Augé’s* latest offering ‘Escapades’ to hold us together for a bit.
This will be Augé’s first solo project outside his and Xavier de Rosnay’s Grammy award-winning double act; with Gaspard himself naming this expedition pour une “an extra-marital adventure after 15 years with the same person”. French composer Victor le Masne lent a helping hand in this sugar surge creation, with the project miraculously taking only two months to record. This doesn’t sound all that ridiculous, seeing as the album is the audible equivalent of a shooting star: it flashes before your eyes, leaving you feeling kinda dizzy, but kinda nice.
If this album were a movie, I’d have it down as Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs - which doesn’t sound all that out of place when you hear that the album is heavily inspired by classic film scores of the 20th century. Each track has its own form of life: ‘Rocambole’s’ swirling giddiness will have you dreaming of ferris wheels on mars. The entrancing meditative synth of ‘Casablanca’ propels you to an alien opera in the sky. ‘Europa’s’ tentative gothic teasings are enough to get even Kubrick excited, while the jagged choir of ‘Hey’ is begging to back a Spaghetti Western montage sequence.
Whether it was a conscious decision or not, letting the symphonies speak for themselves rather than being assisted by lyrics was the right choice. Words feel like they’d simply impede. After all, the burning cymbals of ‘Force Majeure’ are enough to make the God of Thunder tremble in his boots... no words necessary!
Gaspard didn’t come to play with twelve-track ensemble, and yet, that’s exactly what he’s done. Each chaotic construction lends itself as a pristine playground, ready to be trampled by your inner child. 'Escapades' is an audible hallucinogen, and it’s a trip you’re gonna want to take.
*8/10*
Words: *Laura Copley*
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