Words by Tim Hakki @TimHakki
French electronic producer Les Gordon claims Elliott Smith and Debussy as influences. That’s a sentence you’ll probably never read again, and it’s this fervour for all music, regardless of time and place, that informs his latest EP ‘Atlas’. The standout is the title track although ‘Brume’ is easily as immediate and gratifying. On ‘Atlas’, however, you can hear the Elliott Smith influence in the basic acoustic arpeggio that announces it. From then on, Les Gordon treats us to a moving melancholic (and joyous) piece that expresses feelings that can’t be vocalised. Atlas was the Greek Titan who quite literally bore the weight of the world on his shoulders. At a time when matters of the world seem heavier than they’ve ever been before the song is an island of tranquil repose. The sampled vocalisations lend it an ultramodern feeling but the beautiful arrangement is a balm to all the headache-inducing hipsterism of deep house and PC Music. Les Gordon will prove to be a very valuable player indeed.
Atlas is out on 11 December on Kitsuné