dOP - Kisses

dOP
Kisses (feat. Pillowtalk)
Circus Company

As house and techno grope their way toward new and vague territories, certain artists have positioned themselves at the frontier, calling forth songs from times gone by and blending them with a touch of something altogether alien. So it is with dOP, a trio of french electronic musicians who consistently provide the dancesphere with fresh, and yet hauntingly familiar, music. After last year's successful "No More Daddy," they return to mothership label Circus Company for a new take on electronic pop with the EP "Kisses." Joining them for the carnival ride, fittingly, is the San Francisco based trio, PillowTalk, whose pop sensibilities mirror dOP's, but are a definitive stroke lighter.



The meeting of light and dark makes for a fun journey on the first track, entitled "Your Feelin'." It begins with a rousing breakbeat, and filtered pads that foreshadow something quite sinister. Suddenly, a clear and unaffected voice calls out "You say you don't know what I'm doin / Why you keep tellin me that you're leavin?" Woah. East meets west, California meets Europe, 80's synth pop meets a dark room in Tresor. A muted bass rumble drops in and takes the wind out of your stomach before the entire thing explodes into a tamoburine filled, lead-driven dancefloor pleaser. The vocals, poppy and plain, are somehow a touch strange and out of place given the reverberating ghostly sounds in the background, an effect surely not lost on the artists. But when these same sugary words come back in over a beat, they seem at home, an odd bit of magic from the minds of these crooners. Ride number one, completed. (The crew has kindly provided an acapella as well, perhaps as a way to encourage more creativity amongst their fans.)



"Kisses" begins in a more straightforward manner than the former. A syncopated snare drum reminds you to make menacing bass-faces because, baby, this is underground dance music. The body-rocking shuffle of this number is hypnotic and addictive. A voice talks over the track. Yes, it's been done a million times before but they don't care, because right as you start wondering what the hell the speaker is talking about, dOP starts to sing. "Thanks for everything / Thanks for the love/ Thanks for the pain/ That makes us grow up." The word "pain" is intonated with perfect detachment, lingering in the space between your ears and the speakers until another simple lead line picks up where it left off. You wouldn't be the only one to think you've heard it before, and therein lies an unteachable skill in dOP's arsenal: the art of making the new remind you of the old, even disconcertingly so. "Kiss...kiss...kiss again." Yes, you're forgiven for all the raunchy things going through your head when listening to this, because you're not alone. And again, they service the DJs and producers among us with an instrumental.

Pick up this EP. Plain and simple. Dance to it, kiss to it, do as you please. But most of all, listen to it. dOP (and PillowTalk) move with confident strokes.

Grab it on Beatport now!