French house producer Kartell is a fellow on the up and up. He’s only been active for a few years but has not only made a bold impression on the Parisian house scene, but the world as well. It’s a scene that only the best can survive in and Kartell has flourished with his own brand of chillwave infused RnB as well as growing his own label Roche Musique. Now Kartell has a new EP Tender Games, and man, is it smooth puppy!
With plenty of success behind him we now have more chilled, seductive beats in the form of Tender Games from Kartell, one of the new masters of French House.
Last week Matt and Alex hosted their Matt and A-Sexercise show on triple J Breakfast, and it’s a damn shame they didn’t host it a week later because Tender Games would have been right at home on that sexy playlist. Not sax-a-ma-phone sexy, but it has many seductive tones that smoothly roll over track by track. Opening number All I Have plays this up really well, as does Aura. A lot of props goes to guest vocalist J – Rican, whose confident vocals glide across both tracks, sure to incite the most steamy of bedroom endeavours.
The production on these tracks are flawless. There are a lot of moving parts on Tender Games but Kartell’s steady hand has kept each element in place to be utilised to full effect. Aura builds off the strength of J – Rican’s vocals, and as he fades away the percussive taps and rich synth licks continue in style. The mood has been set, and all you have to do is let go.
If Aura was the foreplay, then Falling is the main event. With the help of Tom Bailey on vocals Falling is sultry as hell. The vocals are top notch again, suitably crooning away as the ambient clicks give the track a surprising amount of personality. The winner here though is the piano that makes an appearance halfway through the song, transporting you to a dim lit jazz lounge, a sweet cocktail sitting in the palm of your hand almost seems all but real.
That’s not to say the Tender Games is without some awesome dance floor jams. All Night and Mood pick up the pace, bringing a nice party vibe to even out all the seductiveness. These are some fun synth driven jams, whilst not necessarily bangers they drive a good beat. For fans of those longer French house tracks that spun out of the late 90s and early 00s will be over these tunes like Santa on milk and cookies.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/179955784″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
