by MITCHELL COTE
Staff Writer
< Jean-Paul Belmondo / Ed Banger Records
In 2011, Sébastien “Sebastian” Akchoté exploded onto the French house scene with the abrasive Total – his first album following a string of successful EPs and remixes. He then quietly faded into the background, working with Frank Ocean, Fall Out Boy, and even Charlotte Gainsbourg during the 8-year span between Total’s release and his latest, Thirst.
This new album is, in many ways, Total’s antithesis. Total had only 2 guest vocalists, while Thirst boasts 10 of them. Total’s music was abrasive, but melodic, while Thirst is melodic but abrasive. Even the covers manage to be opposites. Where Total’s cover had Sebastian monochromatically kissing himself, Thirst’s, shot by the same photographer, shows us Sebastian getting set to punch himself in vivid color.
Teaser tracks like “Better Now” (with a returning Mayer Hawthorne), “Run for Me” (with Gallant), and “Beograd” are in many cases longer than the pre-album versions we got and sound all the better for it. “スィート Sweet” (with Loota) is, as the title suggests, largely in Japanese and wears modern trap hop influences on its sleeve – it’s probably one of the most radio-friendly of the lot. Ron and Russel Mael of Sparks lend their pipes to the track “Handcuffed to a Parking Meter” (with… Sparks), which sounds less like a Sebastian track and more like a Sparks track he’s remixed – not that that’s a bad thing. After all, more Sparks is always good.
So just like the cover, Thirst pulls no punches. While some may mourn the loss of the largely instrumental, rough sound Sebastian gave us on Total, this album proves itself a fitting successor to that style while still managing to be something completely different. It also proves that classic axiom of “Good things come to those who wait”.