Description
How could we talk about Kavinsky without evoking the movie that introduced his music to the general public? Dazzling success of the independant film industry of the last decade, “Drive” is the kind of movies in which the soundtrack takes a front seat role. As in his previous realisations, Nicolas Winding Refn took great care, with the help of Cliff Martinez (former drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) to select the tracks that would feature in his latest movie. It’s in this way he picked Nightcall for the opening scene, and we soon cannot tell anymore if the music responds to the picture or the contrary.
Kavinsky’s long-awaited debut album Outrun features 13 tracks, including 8 previously unreleased and some reworks. From the first notes, we can hear Paul Hahn (manager of Daft Punk) recounting an introduction to the adventures of Kavinsky. Warm and electric, Blizzard makes its entrance and sets the tone before allowing ProtoVision to take its place, which with its nervous and synthetic melody was the first excerpt of Outrun that whas released on an EP. Then arrives Odd Look, the first vocal song of the record, which unveils a mysterious funky voice that can remind the groove of Marvin Gaye or Prince. It’s then Rampages turn to take us with its menacing orchestral atmosphere like in Dragon Ball Z ; after what comes the persuasive beat of Suburbia on which notorious Havoc from Mobb Deep lent his voice. The upgraded version of Testarossa Autodrive confirms the efficacity of this unstoppable melody, and it’s at this point we find Nightcall again, the famous ballad produced by Guy-Manuel from Daft Punk and featuring Lovefoxxx from CSS. Dead Cruiser arrives then, muscled yet melancholic, followed by Grand Canyon which takes us with its electrical ritournelle. The voice of Tyson, the funk revelation from UK, transformed the instrumental First Blood into a gnuine hit. The rythmic and melodious Roadgame leads us to Endless, which gently closes this long-awaited revealing first opus, with as a conclusion a narrated epilogue by Paul Hahn again… (via Artist, Bandcamp)
I think you can forgive Kavinsky for using Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive as a source of inspiration for Outrun. Drive has given previously-little-known Frenchman Vincent Belorgey undoubted international recognition and an increased demand for his dark, edgy, French house-infused 80s synthpop sound. I mean, you only have to watch the music video for Daft Punk-inspired lead single Protovision to see it play out almost identically to Drives intro. Outruns back story unsurprisingly follows a young man and his car, in this case a red Ferrari Testarossa. The concept of the album follows the story of this young man, who after a car crash, becomes spliced with said Ferrari and rises from the ashes as a zombie, born to make electronic music. Yeah…
But I can also appreciate just why Kavinsky felt the need for his first full-length album to become synonymous with Drive. Many people will pick this up exactly for the hope that this is Drive: The Concept Album. Unfortunately, Kavinskys homage to the 80s is less fitting than that of Winding Refns and it suffers as a result.
There is an overall feeling that Outrun is the soundtrack to something, but it is not exactly clear or confident in its execution. The new-found fans of Kavinsky have craved for a full-length release, but it is too repetitive to warrant the release of Outrun as a single entity. This would have been much more manageable across a few EP without the album concept getting in the way to muddle proceedings. It is apt that Kavinsky decided to style his music through the use of a zombie; as Outrun is too cold-hearted and shallow to rival the albums of French house heavyweight predecessors like Daft Punk and Justice. Did it make me drive my red Volkswagen Polo like a Ferrari Testarossa? A little, yeah. But the fun soon got old. (via Sputnik Music)
Label: Record Makers
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Released: 2013
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro, Downtempo
File under: Electronic // Synthesiser
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