Artist: Sofian Rouge
Title: Amalthée EP
Label: Moon Beam Records
Cat. #: MB05
Format: Vinyl, Digital
Release Date: 13th August 2021
Tracklist:
01 Amalthée
02 Les Louves
03 Saturn Pills
04 South Star

French composer and musician Sofian Rouge captures a series of glorious musical moments on his expressive new Amalthée EP for Moon Beam Records.

Frédéric Faupin is an artist who thinks deeply about the music he makes, always looking to imbue it with a sense of his personality. He has put out well-received concept albums – ‘Surface’ in 2019 and ‘Between Time & Earth’ in 2013 – and has collaborated with Ben Watt, Doc Brown, and Fabrizio Mammarella. The Frenchman makes heady, dreamy techno as inspired by Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream and shows that in style here.

The superb opener ‘Amalthée’ is an eight-minute deep electronic excursion. Dreamy pads drift through a cavernous space with soft drums and delicate pianos, bringing an emotional weight that keeps you locked. The heart-aching ‘Les Louves’ opens with more brilliantly delicate piano notes before a supple groove eventually rolls in from underneath. Synths are wispy as they drift by like clouds, and a melancholy feeling of longing permeates the whole track.

‘Saturn Pills’ picks up the pace with more upbeat drums, but the mood is still delicate, with modulated synths unfolding with elegance and grace above another rolling, well-designed groove. The cuddly deepness continues on ‘South Star,’but this time there is more hope and optimism in the twinkling keys up top and the more airy chords, draped over gentle drums.

Sofian Rouge’s Amalthée EP is as honest and vulnerable as techno gets, and as such, makes a truly lasting impression.