Chateau Marmont (Chambre404/Arista)
http://chateaumarmont.fr/
Chateau Marmont is a familiar name. But apart from a legendary hotel in Los Angeles, it is also an equally essential, appealing Paris band who, since the mid-2000s, have been building a reputation with their concise productions on the late Institubes label (Solar Apex in 2008, Nibiru in 2010) and precise, thoroughbred remixes (Royksopp, Midnight Juggernauts and, more recently, Eugene McGuinness), as well as their joint projects and tributes (the Jacno Future album, for instance).
Having set out at their own pace to break through worldwide – with a major American tour in 2011 (coupled with appearances at the prestige SXSW and CMJ events) and invitations to play at avant-garde festivals from Iceland Airwaves to Eurosonic – the trio formed by Guillaume De Maria, Julien Galner and Raphaël Vialla have now released their very first album, as surprising as it has been eagerly awaited. Titled The Maze, it was planned and recorded in the band’s Paris studio (an experimental laboratory for their own label, Chambre 404, also home to Exotica, Glass Figure and Stella Le Page). Tracks tend to follow random sequences on today’s albums, but The Maze takes a different approach, telling a story and developing its own perspectives. Opening with a futuristic groove that maps out the record’s major lines, The Maze continues with a much poppier number – Wargames (pre-released with a video in 2012) – which instantly reveals all the scope the group have developed throughout this sophisticated album.
The Maze demonstrates and consolidates all those things that Chateau Marmont have been working towards for the last few years. It goes far beyond the influences that have shaped the group’s rich DNA, including the synthetic landscapes of Kraftwerk; the precision of Steely Dan; a broad heritage of melodic French pop – obviously ranging from Air to Jacno, and even including Gainsbourg, with an apparent tribute in the shape of the superb Affaire classée (Case Closed), sung by an icily sensual Alka Balbir; the cinematographic flights and saving leisurely grace of François De Roubaix; and an exhaustive 70s prog and krautrock tradition respectfully acknowledged by its three outstanding final tracks – The Fall and The Decline of Human Empire, Desertic and Travel to Gliese. We must look further, though, to see how Chateau Marmont have successfully evolved to become something much more than a group or project. Today, they are a platform embracing multiple aims and deftly interwoven lines of force. In short, The Maze is a triumphant album with a taste for adventure.
It promises a bright future for Chateau Marmont.