Comprised of Armand Penicaut and Ulysee Cottin, the Paris, France-based pop act Papooz can trace their origins to when the duo met during part of boozy gatherings of literary obsessions — and as the story goes, the pair ditched their early and earnest ambitions to creative a political fane zone to play the music they had long been writing. Interestingly, the duo’s early demos were warped, boss nova-informed pop that also drew influence from The Beach Boys, Ella Fitzgerald, The White Stripes and Karen Dalton, among others. 

The duo’s full-length debut, 2016’s Green Juice featured “Ann Wants To Dance,” whose SoKo-directed video has amassed more than 12 million streams online. Building upon a growing profile, the Parisian band’s Adrien Durand (of Bon Voyage Organisation) produced sophomore effort is slated for release later this year, the duo’s forthcoming sophomore album Night Sketches will further cement their reputation for crafting warped and skewed exotic-tinged pop — but with surrealist, character-driven lyricism. In fact, Night Sketches’ first single, the moody yet ethereal “You and I” is a lush amalgamation of 70s AM rock with 80s synth-based New Wave, as the song features an arrangement of shimmering synths, a sinuous bass line, glistening guitar lines, an ethereal falsetto and a soaring hook that sonically makes the song remind me of Roxy Music. 

Directed by Armand Penicaut’s girlfriend, director and illustrator Victoria Lafaurie, the video was filmed at Le Balajo, one of Paris’ oldest cabaret clubs, currently owned by a renowned French wrestling family — and it stars Ulysee Cottin’s girlfriend, Danish-born actress and model, Klara Kristin. Shot with Super 16mm film, the video draws from old, Looney Tunes cartoons and other sources. As Lafaurie says in press notes, “Like Tex Avery’s animated cartoons, Ulysee and Armand are Klara Kristin’s conscience. Will she fall for the Devil or the Angel?”