Possibly deriving their name from a portmanteau of the French words for skin peau and stone pierre, Montreal-based indie electro pop duo Paupière, visual artist Julia Daigle and Polipe’s and We Are Wolves‘ Pierre-Luc Bégin, have established a unique take on synth pop that draws from 80s English synth pop, New Wave and French chanson with the release of 2016’s Jeunes instants EP, 2017’s full-length debut À jamais privé de réponses and 2019’s Jettatura EP. But just underneath the breezy melodies and infectious hooks, the duo’s work thematically touches upon naive, adolescent and hedonistic romanticism paired with a post-modern disenchantment.
The Montreal duo’s sophomore album Sade Sati is slated for a May 7, 2021 release, and the album continues Daigle’s and Bégin’s successful collaboration with Bégin’s We Are Wolves bandmate Vincent Levesque, who has produced their previously released material. Earlier this year, I wrote about Sade Sati album single “Coeur Monarque,” an infectious and sugary sweet pop confection that sonically stuck me as being a sort of playful mix of Phil Spector-era pop and late 80s and early 90s synth pop. Thematically though, as the duo explain, the song is much darker” “‘Coeur Monarque’ is an imaginary tale about a girl, who lives her life according to her moods. Her freedom contributes to her isolation and she loses herself in it. ‘Coeur Monarque’ is a light and poppy piece, just like the protagonist of the story.”
The album’s latest single, album title track “Sade Sati,” derives its title from a term in Indian astrology, the Montreal-based duo explain: “it is a period of 7 ½ years that involves many challenges but also recognition and great achievements. Sade Sati is karma, the sum of the acts of this present life but also of previous ones. Leaving marks over time leading to true destiny.” Much like its immediate predecessor, the track is sugary sweet pop confection, centered around an enormous hook, shimmering synth arpeggios and Daigle singing lyrics about the movements of the planets — in this case, Saturn — and how they impact and influence all things in our lives.
