''Escapades'' is the debut

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solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

by French

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

musician

Gaspard Augé Gaspard Augé (; born 21 May 1979 in Besançon) is a French musician and graphic designer. He is one of the two members of French electronic music duo Justice. Biography Augé was born into a family of Protestant industrialists from Besançon ...

, half of the French electronic duo

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

. It was released on 25 June 2021 by

Ed Banger Records Ed Banger Records (sometimes referred to as Ed Rec) is a French electronic music record label founded by Pedro Winter in 2003 as a division of Headbangers Entertainment. It focuses on house music, particularly French house, as well as alternati ...

through Genesis (Because Music). It was recorded in Paris alongside French producer Victor le Masne, taking only 2 months to complete. Video shorts were released for the singles "Force Majeure", "Hey!", "Captain", and "Belladone", as well as for the song "Pentacle". The album's lead single "Force Majeure" was selected as the official

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broadcast soundtrack for

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Background

In an interview with ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', Augé described the project as a means for him to explore and develop music he backlogged over the years: "I had a vast amount of melodies and arrangement ideas for years and just took the opportunity to do my own thing." He further explains that the album incorporates musical and film score elements from the 60's, 70's and 80's, touching on themes ranging from Italian horror to psychedelic folk "and every conceivable point between". He adds that the album's orchestral qualities and lack of lyrics hopefully "stimulates the imagination." Indeed, part of Augé's inspiration to produce the record lied in his frustration with the musical industry's adherence to simplistic and codified structure in modern musical releases, "Everything seems so controlled and minimal; as soon as you put too many notes it’s seen as not right." Overall, the album explores notions of escapism from standardized creative expression, with the goal of reorienting the listener toward a more expansive and diverse creative process, alongside an augmented sense experience.

Critical reception

''Escapades'' received generally positive reviews from music critics.

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, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, gives the album an

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score of 73, based on 6 reviews. A review by ''

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'' describes its melodies as "excellent," with every element "primed for enormity — a sandwich packed with hefty slabs of prime rib, rather than the sensory overload of experimental modern cooking." Ben Devlin of ''

musicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

'' describes the album as "captivating in all its eccentricities, evocative and groovy in equal measure", and that "with this album Augé well and truly proves himself as an artist in his own right." Damian Jones from ''

'' reflects in a 3/5 review that "Augé’s thirst for the strange makes this album an odd but interesting solo proposition, which still makes some room for dancefloor slayers", while noting that the lead single "admittedly could have easily slotted into any Justice record with its trademark industrial synth jabs and propulsive beats." '' Uncut'' described the album as having "extremely polished music that sometimes strays a little into fromage ..but where it works, it can sweep you off your feet."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Musicians * Gaspard Augé - keyboard; production, arrangement, composition * Victor le Masne - drums, keyboard, piano; production, arrangement, composition * Xavier Le Masne - flute * Laura Etchegoyhen – chorus , vocals * Audrey Thirot - chorus * Elena Azevedo Da Silva - chorus * Sibylle Chalamon – chorus Technical * Michael Declerck - production, engineering, mixing * Antoine Poyeton - engineering, recording * Louis Bes - recording * Louis Gallet - recording * Mike Bell - mastering Artwork * Filip Nilsson - art direction * Thomas Jumin - artwork * Adrien Blanchat - sleeve art * Jasper J. Spanning - photography * Marina Monge - costume design Other * Marie Pieprzownik - lacquer cut

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

External links

*{{Discogs release, id=19269505, name=Escapades 2021 debut albums Electropop albums Ed Banger Records albums 2020s French-language albums