Bastien Picot is a French singer/songwriter, producer and creative mastermind behind the rising electronic music project AURUS, which specializes in an orchestral and percussive sound that has drawn comparisons to Nakhane, Woodkid, Peter Gabriel and others.
2019’s “The Abettors,” which featured Sandra Nkaké thematically raised awareness of a system that exploited and took the living for granted. Interestingly, Picot followed that up with a massive 2020 that included notable sets at that year’s MaMA Festival and Bars en Trans Festival, opening for Vendredi sur Mer at L’Olympia, and being named a “revelation” of Chantier des Francos. And building upon a growing profile in the Francophone world, Picot released his AURUS self-titled debut EP last June.
EP single “Momentum” is a brooding and cinematic track featuring skittering and percussive beats, atmospheric horns and synths paired with Picot’s plaintive vocals. The end result is a song that seamlessly meshes house music and contemporary electronic music production with elements of Security-era Peter Gabriel.
Directed by Michael Gravina, the gorgeously shot and glitchy visual for “Momentum” stars Claudio Rabe as a sort of tribal dancer, who becomes one with nature through clay and moss and Picot/AURUS in a mask designed by Hasawa that he bursts out of near the video’s conclusion.
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