BLOW, a rising Paris-based indie pop act featuring Quentin Gugliemi (vocals), Thomas Clarice (bass), Jean-Etienne Maillard (guitar) can trace their origins back to Nancy, France’s Music Academy International, where Claire and Maillard first met — as roommates. With the release of their earliest material — 2017’s Fall in Deep EP and 2018’s full-length debut Vertigo — the French indie pop trio quickly established a a sleek, modern pop sound inspired by acts like Moderat, Jungle, The xx and others, paired with lyrics written and sung in English.
The Disease is slated for release this fall. Much like their previously released work, Shake The Disease’s material is written and sung completely in English; but unlike its predecessors, the album sonically and aesthetically is a creative left turn for the members of BLOW: While largely inspired by a collective love of hip-hop, particularly for obsessive hip-hop fans Crayon and Clarice, Shake The Disease finds the members of BLOW driven by the collective instinct to leaven the electronic textures of their previously released work with more organic sounds.
Written both prior to and amidst France’s pandemic-related lockdowns over the past 18 months, Shake The Disease reportedly is deeply inspired by the immediate circumstances of its creators, and as as a result, the album’s material reportedly throbs with the anxiety and unease of living in an increasingly unsettled world on the verge of collapse. Lyrically and thematically, the album’s material often seems to hold a mirror up to a generation — or two — that finds themselves forced to increasing question everything they’ve done and been told.
Shake The Disease’s latest single, album title track “Shake The Disease” is a languorous and woozy track featuring an elastic groove, tweeter and roofer rattling beats, swelling atmospheric synths, twinkling keys, bursts of strummed guitar and a scuzzy yet soulful guitar solo reminiscent of Steely Dan’s “Peg.” Crayon’s Yacht Rock meets Quiet Storm-like production serves as a lush and sultry bed for achingly vulnerable vocal performances from BLOW’s Gugliemi and HAUTE’s Anna Madison that express longing, confusion, a desperate desire for connection with someone in a complicated, mad world.
“This is not a love song,” the members of BLOW explain. “It’s a call for help written during a complicated time where we were losing our marks. We naturally thought of Anna to perform and embody one of the two characters in the track’s narrative. We love her voice which was perfect to bring warmth and sensuality to the track, which she effortlessly did. We’re very proud and happy to have her on the album.
Gugliemi and HAUTE’s Majidson recently performed “Shake The Disease” on A COLORS SHOW, an ongoing live series by ColorsxStudios that features emerging artists performing material in an extremely minimalist fashion: in a room with floors and walls in a single color and a microphone.
