About

With two successful albums and a sold-out world tour under their belt, Paris-based L'Imperatrice have matriculated from a good-times instrumental act created by music critic Charles de Boisseguin to a six-piece powerhouse whose sashaying mixes of funk and French Touch, disco and deep house now include the fetching vocals of singer Flore Benguigui. Their new album Pulsar, is a focused but far-reaching record, the jubilant testament of a band with plenty to say and the skills to say it themselves.

Across 10 tracks, L'Imperatrice move freely and authoritatively among the sounds they love, bridging hip-hop, kosmische, and modern pop with their most unabashed embraces of French Touch and international house ever. Benguigui, meanwhile, boldly sings of self-empowerment by shirking beauty standards, ageism, and drab normalcy, with a little help from an exciting set of new friends. A longtime fan who had seen the band multiple times, Maggie Rogers flew to Paris to lead the svelte and graceful "Any Way," approaching the song with an unabashed vim. They had a similar encounter with Erick the Architect, who was so enthusiastic about the sample- based and panoramic "Sweet & Sublime" that Benguigui scrapped one of her own verses to make more room for him. And Italian singer Fabiana Martone (Nu Genea) crafted the melody for "Danza Marilu" the moment she heard its disco thump.

Throughout these 10 songs, L'Imperatrice espouses the rare willingness to be real about life and its woes while also sounding like a perfect picture of joy. Pulsar opens like a window being slid open onto an unimagined world. — (via Label)

—

Follow a band or musician’s career as they record and release one album after another and it’s exciting to watch their musicality grow and expand to incorporate new ideas and sounds. That’s the case for the nu-disco, Euro pop-tinged group L’Impératrice (or “the Empress” if you’re not familiar with French), who manages to chart all kinds of new territory on their new record, Pulsar, while maintaining the sleek production and feel-good vibe of their previous work. Pulsar is simultaneously varied and yet cohesive; there’s a subdued confidence to the sextet and their collaborator’s work that reaffirms that making music together comes naturally.

L’Impératrice, who formed over a decade ago in Paris, has put out three records and has spent the last few years playing across North America and at European festivals, slowly but surely gaining traction. Much of what they created for Pulsar was inspired by their experiences touring in support of their second record, Tako Tsubo (2021). The group notes that just moments after finishing their tour in Austin, Texas, back in late 2022, they began conceptualizing the new record while still in the state. Perhaps being a French group in a city known for its musical diversity inspired them to expand their musical collaborators, as there are far more recognizable names on the album than on their previous releases. Maggie Rogers, who claims the band to be one of her favorites, jumped at the opportunity to go record the gorgeous “Any Way” with the group in Paris after they sent her their initial recording. Rogers handles most of the song with her always-subdued and effortless vocal work, while L’Impératrice’s vocalist, Flore Benguigui, gently supports her throughout. The five-minute piece maintains an easygoing pace, much like Rogers’ own work, though the genre is new territory for the singer. It’s certainly a style she could consider pursuing further.

Erick the Architect from the Brooklyn-based group Flatbush Zombies, appears on the groovy “Sweet & Sublime,” another of the record’s best. His rapping works just as well as Benguigui’s feminine and light vocals do over the driving beat. In fact, the group claims to have been so impressed with Erick that they cut a verse of Benguigui’s to give him more space. Finally, Italian Neapolitan singer Fabiana Martone is featured on “Danza Marilú,” a song marketed as a homage to the styles of both Italo-disco and French pop composer Serge Gainsbourg as well as an anthem encouraging women of all ages to move freely on the dance floor. Fortunately, the song doesn’t sound anywhere near as cheesy as the English-language promotional phrase it was given, as Martone and Benguigui sound excellent together. The two blend French and Italian lyrics seamlessly during the verses while the chorus of just “Danza, Marilù” punctuated by an occasional “in the house” thrown in is handled by Martone.

Pulsar’s production is smooth and endlessly enjoyable throughout. Take the first song, “Cosmogonie,” the album’s only instrumental track that grows in complexity as it progresses with its heavy keyboards and varied beats and rhythms that work to conjure an almost psychedelic ambiance. As the song seems to spiral upward, it devolves directly into the following track. “Amour Ex Machina” is a French-language tribute to the feeling that tends to overwhelm you when on the nightclub floor. A direct translation of the song butchers the vibe rather harshly, so it’s better not to worry about what exactly Benguigui is saying. Instead, focus on the idea that even the most closed-off, reluctant or robot-like person can feel a rush of lust and levity on the dance floor.

L’Impératrice has a distinct sound, defined by the styles of ‘70s disco and synth pop and held together by varied and layered instrumentation and Benguigui’s vocals. Perhaps what’s most impressive about Pulsar is how diverse and eclectic the band manages to make the album in just 10 songs. It doesn’t sound too packed with varying styles so as to appeal to a growing and increasingly international audience. Instead, it feels as though they curated the best of what they were inspired by and tied it together with the sounds that brought them together in the first place. — (via Spectrum Culture)

↓
Label: Microqlima
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: Europe
Released: 2024
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Nu-Disco

File under: Electronic // Disco / Boogie / Funk
⦿