While scientists may one day unlock the secrets of the alchemy that makes some songs as addictive as certain mind-altering substances, for now we have to rely on hard evidence; play at random « Chimera », « Summer Light », « Keep Your Distance » or « Runaway » off TAMPLE’s latest album and you will immediately recognise the following physical symptoms: whistling along, bobbing of the head, elated smiles, shaking of the hips, and the obsessive compulsion to hit repeat, over and over again.
We might as well face it, this quartet from Bordeaux have hit on a winning formula. Could it be the vocals, so unique yet so familiar? Is it the bittersweet melancholy oozing out of every one of the eight songs on this album? Is it those Növo-Disco stylings that make everybody swagger? Or indeed the Doo-wop choruses and infectious whistling that stick in your head like a piece of gum on the sole of a Converse sneaker? It’s as if the Daft Punk of today were listening intently to mid 90’s Air. It’s like Motorama swapped their black and white for the flashy colours of ABBA. TAMPLE’s tunes are infectious, immediate, unmistakeable.
Like Hot Chip or Isaac Delusion, these four men succeed in injecting a heavy dose of soul into their Synth-Pop, in turn finding that happy medium between music you listen to in your bedroom with your head in your lap, and music that holds forests of arms aloft on fevered dance-floors. First discovered by Les Inrocks magazine, and now set to play the next Transmusicales festival in Rennes, TAMPLE look poised to embrace the whole world. FREE HUGS EVERYBODY!
