French electronica producers draw from life and the ethereal on debut album

Posted on 3 July 2020
By Khyle Deen
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French producers and brothers Supernaive are releasing their debut album Nekomata. Recorded between Paris and Tokyo, the record features elements of electronica and RnB akin to the esoteric stylings Jamie xx or Mount Kimbie.

The brothers nod to French Touch while drawing on Japanese cultural reference points, most obviously in the masks they wear which are a symbol of eternal youth in Japanese Noh theatre.

The album absorbs sounds and influences from reality as well as the ethereal – for example on ‘Taking Over’, which has its roots in noughties hip hop, the bell sample comes from striking a broken buoy the pair found on a beach in Iceland and took back to their Paris studio.

On standout single ‘Warrior’, pulsating drums, ominous synths and breakbeat percussion provide the backdrop for inciting vocals. Brutality is juxtaposed with intrinsic beauty. Its accompanying video is directed by Antoine Bal (A$AP Rocky), inspired by early Tomb Raider games along with the tension found in 1970s thrillers such as Spielberg’s Duel.

Elsewhere on the record, the band subvert expectations on ‘Under Control’ (ft. NAL) with the guest vocalist’s impassioned washing over a kind of futuristic waltz full of vintage synths and canonical drum samples. In the accompanying visual from Bal, we are finally introduced to the two characters that form Supernaive – the liberated creative who finds joy in chaos, and the methodological thinker with a sense of laser-focussed precision.

Nekomata is available now.

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