ADAM KESHER: CHALLENGING NATURE
[rating:3.5]
Adam Kesher: Challenging Nature
Label: Disque Primeur
Release date: April 11, 2011
Named for the character of the same name from David Lynch’s ever-weird Mulholland Dr., Adam Kesher is the creation of Gaëtan Didelot and Julien Perez. Now expanded to a five-piece, the French group’s latest record, Challenging Nature, wears every fleck of its DNA — drawn from a very specific family tree — on their sleeves. Even after the most cursory of listens its clear that the group is cut from the same cloth as other synth-driven acts as Hercules and Love Affair, Cut Copy, and Chromeo. Not-so-coincidentally, those last two acts have direct pipelines into Adam Kesher’s sophomore excursion.
Challenging Nature is produced by one half of Chromeo’s brain trust, Dave 1, and mixed by the likes of A-Trak, Philippe Zdar of fellow French band Cassius, and Pierrick Devin, who has contributed to many disco-influenced acts including — you guessed it — Cut Copy. The band also lists Phoenix as an influence and, paired up with the roster of producers and mixers, all of these acts bleed straight through with absolutely no resistance. Its like Adam Kesher noticed these other acts went away for the weekend so they hopped the fence and used their swimming pool, shamelessly cannonballing right smack into the middle of the deep end. So no, it isn’t the most original thing in the entire world; far from it, in fact. But if nothing else you have to admire the group’s confidence in so defiantly marching down what is already a well-worn path. They do it consistently well too, its just that even at its best moments — “Hundred Years Later” and “Hour of the Wolf” are a borderline phenomenal opening pair — it feels lacking in its own distinguishable personality, ultimately resting more in a genre than by a name.
That said, in order to properly get into this album you must commit to doing two things. First, turn up the volume. It should really go without saying based on the aforementioned comparisons, but this isn’t an LP that’s going to do you much good wavering around in the background. The bass really needs to have some punch behind it. Secondly, you have to toggle off any expectation you have that all music be created entirely from scratch with organic ingredients. If you can do those things, you’re likely to find that Challenging Natureis hardly challenging at all, but rather a surprisingly well put together collection of straight up synth-pop. You might also find yourself longing for a sweaty dance floor because, by and large, that’s what this record is most suited for. In fact, my very first instinct was to catalog in my head where certain songs here would fit in a DJ mix alongside tracks from Cut Copy and house remixes of Phoenix. And there are quite a few such tracks that would make the cut.
Its always exhilarating to be swept over by a completely refreshing new sound, but there’s something to be said for simply tackling an existing blueprint and pulling it off successfully. Challenging Nature might not blow you away or keep you enthralled for weeks on end, but its fruitful nonetheless. If nothing else, it manages to cozy up alongside some of the genre’s foremost representative artists and doesn’t back down.
–Andrew J. Bailey
–Andrew J. Bailey
