Matthew PriceWe take a look at the infectious new single from Paris’s own Disco DJ and Producer, Jean Tonique
Sacré bleu, Monsieur Tonique. There must be something in the French waters as of late to account for all this fantastic electronic music we’ve been hearing from over the pond. You only need look to groups and artists such as Daft Punk, Justice, Les Loups and Dimitri from Paris for your evidence; Parisian resident Jean Tonique is certainly no exception. Not a day has gone by in the past week where his latest track ‘Something to Talk About’ has failed to rattle and shake the household.
Versatility is, without question, a well-developed skill within Jean’s production capabilities. The man can churn out upbeat, punchy and groovy tracks, but equally has no problem with those of a moodier, darker nature (see ‘What you wanna do’ from his 2015 ‘You’ EP). In that sense, it can be tricky to pin Tonique’s work into any one particularly genre. Luckily, ‘Something to talk about’ is well-within the confines of funky Nu-Disco and makes an excellent addition to the TFSR Funkin’ Donuts repertoire.
The track kicks off with light and melodic vocals from Keyone Starr alongside a strong funky synth baseline, not dissimilar from those commonly used by our all-time favourite neo-funk group Tuxedo (if you haven’t already, check out ‘Love Like That – Tux ReFux’ for an idea of what we’re talking about:)
Simple and ear-pleasing piano chords provide an aesthetic accompaniment in Tonique’s initial section until the chorus kicks in, where the piano takes a back seat and that strong, pulsating bassline makes you do all kinds of things with your hips. We’re brought back to earth in the bridges with those chords we heard earlier, before blasting back off to boogie wonderland by that oh so sweet, catchy (almost squelchy) bass and Ms Starr knocking those higher notes out of the park.
Overall, Jean’s latest number is a totally infectious hit, full of feeling and positive energy and all we can say from Funkin’ Donuts and the TFSR is “très bien”. It came as a frankly welcome breath of fresh disco air following the ‘You’ EP, which whilst on the whole wasn’t without it’s funky elements (My Love/Your Soul and La Rencontre probably coming closest), it didn’t come close to the amount of fun this track was.
A sporadic injection of nu-disco groove is to be expected; Tonique doesn’t appear to be married to any particular style. It’s clear there’s plenty more experimentation to come, so we’ll have to just enjoy it as and when it comes. That said, It’s been 2 years since the ‘You’ EP was released, and we’re ever hopeful that this latest release may be somewhat of an indication of what we’re in store for with the next EP.
Something to talk about indeed, Monsieur Tonique.