Cassius, the Frenchmen Zdar (Philippe) and Boom-Bass (Hubert), are back and set to release a fresh new artist album titled 15 Again on September 25th. The album's lead single will be Toop Toop (September 18th).
Zdar and Boom Bass first combined forces as La Funk Mob during 1994, releasing two EPs together. Then Boom Bass worked on French rapper MC Solaar's LP releases, whilst Zdar teamed with Etienne de Crécy, of Super Discount, to release an LP as Motorbass.
Only in 1998 they formed Cassius, following in the foot steps of Daft Punk, gaining fame with their sound combining jazzy hip hop and acidic disco. Many surely remember them for their debut single; UK club hit Cassius 1999, shortly followed by the album 1999.
Au Rêve, which followed three years later, was confessed as being an effort to build a “musical monument.” by the duo. “we put a lot of time and resources – maybe too much," say the duo today. This was at a time when the French house music scene was disintegrating into a series of new cliques.
Zdar and Boombass each went back home to compose solo projects. But it soon became obvious that the sum of the parts each had composed could provide the material for a new duo album. To retain the songs’ freshness and spontaneity, Zdar and Boombass exiled themselves to a house, scaled-back the technology and a firm eight-hour time limit for each piece to help keep them focused on essentials.
After the luxury of Au Rêve, returning to the home studio lifted the two musicians’ morale, as revealed by 15 Again. This new album, with its near-manifesto of a title, has a more instant homemade feel with a garage sensibility.
Fans from won’t be disappointed. Infused with a dance edge, Toop Toop starts things off with a Popcorn-like sequence, a Clash-style guitar riff and Zdar’s voice, shouting into a megaphone; The title song, 15 Again, features acid house sequences, sung as a duet with Gladys; Cactus is an homage to Soulsonic Force; See Me Now, suggests Gil Scott Heron as he might sound with Alec Sadkin as producer; Jack Rock a devilishly danceable, subtle yet shifting homage to a great house classic; Finally, La Notte, carries that sensual melancholy of after-hours clubs in the Balearic paradise.
The album features many of the duo’s friends – Mathieu Chedid on guitar riffs, Gladys on vocals, Sébastien Tellier on bass and Pharrell Williams. Williams was seduced by the instrumental, Eye Water, the opening track of the Au Rêve album. The famous hip-hop artist/producer wanted to write lyrics so that a sung version could be recorded.
Mixing was done in Paris limited to six hours per song, in keeping with the albums work ethic. Zdar and Boombass have begun auditioning musicians so that this new repertoire can get out on tour very soon.
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