What might you get if Air and Sebastien Tellier were filtered through Pink Floyd with vocals by a Michael Jackson and Antony Hegarty chimera? Cascadeur.
Cascadeur’s music is so new to American audiences, that it might be too difficult an endeavor to compare it to any other band we know. The attempt above was a futile enterprise; he seems to be sui generis, so we will treat his art as such.
Cascadeur (Stuntman, in English) released his album “The Human Octopus” in France on March 28th. Apparently, Universal France isn’t making much of an effort to publicize Cascadeur stateside, which is a shame, because the album—an amalgamation of delicate minor key piano melodies, the occasional theremin whistle, synth washes with Cascadeur’s voice floating atop—is like a French version of Antony Hegerty, only in English. So strangely beautiful is it that Antony might be blushing in envy of Cascadeur’s mesmerizing art.
All of this is not to serve as hype for Cascadeur, of course. It is perhaps too early to tell exactly what Cascadeur is up to conceptually. All that can be said is that the young French artist is doing something different. He’s hit on something strange and inexplicable, and for now that is enough.
Cascadeur’s mysterious stage persona finds him donning a shiny West Side story-esque jacket with ‘Cascadeur’ emblazoned on the back, flanked by two red stars. On his head, he wears a white helmet with a red star on its crown and reflective chrome visor drawn down to conceal his eyes. Underneath the helmet and visible from behind, a leather aviator cap. He’s most often seen manning the synthesizer and piano.
Cascadeur’s costume seems to pay more than a little homage to Daft Punk’s attire, but whereas Daft Punk are tongue-in-cheek in their robot suits, Cascadeur seems rather more melancholic—as if he’s hiding the very secret of his existence in the costume. Perhaps it has something to do with the melancholia infused into his music which is then translated—by alchemy—into his dress. Whatever the case, the visual aesthetic works.
And since we’ve established that Cascadeur really must be experienced to be understood, watch the music video to the track “Walker” and stream some other tracks from “The Human Octopus.”
“Meaning”
Meaning by cascadeur
“Your Shadow”
Your shadow by cascadeur
