Montréal's Phloe creates intoxicating and slightly uneasy worlds on the project's newest release, Les Idées. Textured sounds play out over unpredictable hits and strikes and subtly gorgeous melodies, as if inviting the listener down a shady alley that happens to be adorned with pretty visual art.
There is evolution in the undulating "L'attente"; spaciously cool palates on "Les Differences", where spluttering electronics merge with sustained brass instruments to a calming effect. "Les Lignes" has more tension than the preceeding tracks, and Phloe builds this up with rising suspension that finds release in futuristic and balmy sounding notes. "Les Amis" leans more into the album's jazz foundations, pitting shmoozy sax lines with off-centre percussion. Closing track "La Copie" is a Reichian exercise is repitition and harmony, with claps pulsating behind rhythmic, soothing hits.
The solo project of Florian Bouyou, Phloe builds a delicate world across Les Idées, one that feels like it could break down at any second, and all the more intriguing for it.
★★★★