Tag: Polycool Something Between Us

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Polycool Shares Slow-Burning “Spiral”

French psych pop outfit Polycool quickly established a unique sound that drew from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Air, Sebastian Tellier, Nick Hakim, Connan Moccasin and others with the release of 2019’s full-length debut, Lemon Lord. The album’s material received airplay onRadio Nova, FIP, France Inter, Les Inrocks and others. 

Building upon a growing profile in their native France, the rising psych pop outfit has played sets at 2019’s Printemps de Bourges and 2020’s We Love Green. 

If you were following this site last year, you might recall that the members of the rising psych pop outfit related two singles:

  • “Something Between Us,” a breezy and infectious bop centered around a strutting bass line, glistening synth arpeggios, Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar paired with a dance floor friendly hook and and a seductive falsetto delivery. The end result was a song that sounded like a slick synthesis of the Bee Gees and Tame Impala. 

  • “Unlike You,” a swaggering and sultry song centered around glistening synth arpeggios, a strutting, Quiet Storm-like groove and buzzing guitars paired with a plaintive falsetto delivery and the band’s ability to craft an infectious hook. But underneath the sultry facade is something much more uneasy and menacing — the dysfunctional past relationship that you can’t escape from, that you can’t stop obsessively thinking of. 

Polycool starts off the new year with “Spiral,” a sultry. slow-burning and atmospheric bit of synth pop that to my ears seems like a slick synthesis of brooding melancholy, Quiet Storm soul and MGMT-like psych pop centered around a strutting bass line, glistening synths, and a buzzing yet soulful guitar solo paired with an achingly plaintive falsetto and the band’s unerring knack for razor sharp hooks. The song describes an uneasy and complicated affair of the heart — one in which lust and love are hopelessly confused.

Directed by Tino Gelli, the accompanying video for “Spiral” is shot in grainy yet sumptuous Super 8-styled black and white in the countryside.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Polycool Shares Strutting and Sultry “Unlike You”

With the release of their full-length debut, 2091’s Lemon Lord, French psych pop outfit Polycool quickly established a unique sound that drew from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Air, Sebastian Tellier, Nick Hakim, Connan Moccasin and others. The band has received airplay on Radio Nova, FIP, France Inter, Les Inrocks and others. 

Building upon a growing profile in their native France, the rising psych pop outfit has played at 2019’s Printemps de Bourges and 2020’s We Love Green. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Something Between Us,” a breezy and infectious bop centered around a strutting bass line, glistening synth arpeggios, Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar paired with a dance floor friendly hook and and a seductive falsetto delivery. The end result was a song that sounded like a slick synthesis of the Bee Gees and Tame Impala.

The French psych pop outfit’s latest single “Unlike You” is a swaggering and sultry song centered around glistening synth arpeggios, a strutting, Quiet Storm-like groove and buzzing guitars paired with a plaintive falsetto delivery and the band’s ability to craft an infectious hook. But underneath the sultry facade is something much more uneasy and menacing — the dysfunctional past relationship that you can’t escape from, that you can’t stop obsessively thinking of.

The band explains that the song describes “the trap of memory, the sleepless nights, the false desire to forget, looking for different thins (unlike you) in order to no longer love the past (un-like you).”

Directed by Martin Schrepel, the accompanying video for “Unlike You” begins with pairs of scissors making clean cuts of everything around — but at its core, is the confusing push and pull of emotions love often engenders, and the desire to break free.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: French Psych Pop Outfit Polycool Shares a Sultry New Bop

With the release of their full-length debut, 2091’s Lemon Lord, the up-and-coming French psych pop outfit Polycool quickly established a unique sound that drew from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Air, Sebastian Tellier, Nick Hakim, Connan Moccasin and others. The band has received airplay on Radio Nova, FIP, France Inter, Les Inrocks and others.

Building upon a growing profile in their native France, the rising psych pop outfit has played at 2019’s Printemps de Bourges and 2020’s We Love Green.

The French psych pop outfit’s latest single, “Something Between Us” is a breezy and infectious bop centered around a strutting bass line, glistening synth arpeggios, Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar paired with a dance floor friendly hook and and a seductive falsetto delivery. The end result is a song that to my ears is a bit like the Bee Gees-meets-Tame Impala — or in other words a sinuous and sultry dance floor friendly come on to trip with that pretty young thing.

Fittingly, the accompanying video is a lysergic fever dream in which the members of the French outfit jam out in what looks like an enormous lava lamp.