Sugar Sugar release “Floating”

The device on which French duo Sugar Sugar plays can be described as an amphetamine-fuelled drum kit. Thanks to the latter, the band brings a human pulse to the machines and frees itself from their metronomic diktat.

The pair who make up Sugar Sugar, Julien Loutelier and Axel Rigaud, put improvisation and intuition at the forefront of their artistic practice. This is convenient: given the lack of memory in the modular analogue synthesiser they use; they have no choice but to embark on an ever-new musical exploration.

Based on Julien’s rhythmic proposals, Axel shapes sounds on the modular synthesiser. By hitting the drums, which are equipped with sensors, these sounds are simultaneously triggered and progressively transformed, via an elaborate live score, which Julien discovers. The duo, therefore, creates a mirror game where rhythms and sounds are freely exchanged.

Thus, this two-headed hydra scaffolds live music full of strength and immediacy. The two musicians are perfectly connected, and the duo functions like a two-brained painter, one handling the brush and the other concocting the colours.

Being immersed in electronic music since their teenage years, it is natural that Sugar Sugar covers a wide aesthetic spectrum, ranging from the ambience of Boards of Canada to the abrasive textures of Detroit techno and the dislocated groove of English electronica.

Besides this sound system, Sugar Sugar benefits from a lighting system specially developed by Lénaïc Pujol (Collectif Scale). These lights, also connected to the sensors of the drums, give the scenography an original and immersive visual coherence.

The participation of the sound engineer Pierre Favrez, with whom Julien has been collaborating for more than ten years within the Cabaret Contemporain, allows them to produce a creative and dynamic sound with the acoustic drums

Despite the apparent complexity of this artistic stratagem, Sugar Sugar easily creates its own pattern to make us forget the strings. Therefore, the infrequent appearances of this technoid barrel organ are to be closely watched.

Demonstrating their unique sound, they bring us the live performance video for “Floating”. A fiercely rhythmic piece, the track shows their pairs penchant for laying down tribal percussive work paired with a deeply atmospheric musical setting.

Directed by Basil Pollet-Villard, the accompanying video delivers the perfect visual pairing for the track. Smoke-dripped scenes offer a slick industrial taste allowing Lenaïc Pujol’s brilliant lighting work to cut through.

Watch the video for Floating below

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