French Duo Papooz Release 'No One Else' From Upcoming Album

After announcing their 11-track album RESONATE to come out on 1.26 via Half Awake Records, the French duo PAPOOZ release “NO ONE ELSE” today.

The plot keeps thickening by sharing the new video snippet which will be part of the accompanying, bigger short film, shot by artist / director Moodoïd. Earlier, the duo Ulysse Cottin and Armand Penicaut released “RESONATE” and “DOWN BY YOU”, all co-produced and mixed by Patrick Wimberly (Chairlift, MGMT, Lil Yachty, Solange, Blood Orange) and co-written with Jesse Harris.

They muse on “NO ONE ELSE”: 
We always thought of this song as the only ballad of the album. We got inspired by a video of Phoenix on YouTube where they were hanging at Motorbass studio in Paris and remisiscing about their legendary producer/mixer Phillipe Zdar's recording philosophy. From what I can remember: Only have one strong slow tempo song. Try to pile up the bangers. Have a working title in mind. These three precepts were always on the back of our minds while recording the album. The other main inspiration for that track when we arranged it was 70's italian music: Patti Pravo (Piensero Stupendo), Lucio Battisti (Amarsi un po) or Lucio Dalla (Siamo dei). We really like the slickness of their groove, the cheesy love lines and the funky guitar parts are incredible. Otherwise it's your simple, cut to the chase, and we hope eternal folk ballad…with a drip of extra-virgin olive oil on it.

PAPOOZ's Ulysse and Armand share a few fun facts about RESONATE:
“We wrote and recorded the album between New York and Paris with the American songwriter/producer Jesse Harris.

We worked really fast in what felt like stream of consciousness, writing and producing a song a day for a couple of weeks.  We already had the album name in mind (RESONATE in capital letters) and knew we wanted to explore the concept of resonance in music.

As theorized by the German philosopher and sociologist Hartmut Rosa, the physic concept of resonance or « the reinforcement or prolongation of sound by reflection of a surface or by the synchronous vibration of a neighboring object » can be applied to philosophy as a tool against the madness of modern life. One only has to enter in resonance with the world to live at his own pace.

Both lyrically and musically, we used this idea to describe at our best what was going on in our relationships within and outside our band.

We then finished the record with mixer/producer Patrick Wimberley in his Greenpoint studio. He's a pop genius with whom we had been eager to work after a memorable encounter at the Villa Aperta festival at the Villa Médicis. 

To sum it all up, we had tons of fun, slept very little, partied like crazy, ate great food, made lots of music and met some amazing people along the way.”

PAPOOZ have a talent for sway pop and irrefutable groove like a few of their compatriots, such as Phoenix and L'Impératrice. Having toured America two times to sold out venues such as LA's The Lodgeroom, NY's Elsewhere for instance, the 5-piece live band is getting ready to bring the new sounds over again.

Tropical pop here, wild bossa nova there, all of it deeply anchored in the American style of the Seventies, Ulysse and Armand are perfectly matched. Falsely dabbler and completely inspired, the duo fights the ambient gloom with their songs.

Their cheerful and addictive tunes lay the foundations for the four-handed songwriting style of Ulysse (brown hair) and Armand (blond hair). Those two performers, who compose and sing effortlessly in English, posed with a cheerful attitude on the sleeve of their albums None Of This Matters Now (2022), Night Sketches (2019) their debut album Green Juice (2016), which was recorded at the Cap Ferret and mixed by Ash Workman (Metronomy, Baxter Dury etc) and their debut PAPOOZ EP (2015).

If one like to imagine an upcoming The White Lotus summer soundtrack, set in Greece mixed with a French Riviera spirit, listen to “Ann Wants To Dance” (directed by Soko, 10M views) to start your PAPOOZ-filled journey from there.

The eleven tracks of RESONATE showcase PAPOOZ's art of venturing into rock, pop, and song, driven by their knack for melody that touches the heart, with lyrics finely crafted and delivered by the sublimely androgynous voices of Armand and Ulysse, and a joyous, stirring, and nonchalant groove that's irresistibly infectious. All the while alternating between laughter and tears, melancholy and hedonism, ballads and dance invitations, introspection and letting go, with the same ease and spontaneity. In essence, it resonates with life in each of us.

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