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MEDICATION PARK, a leisurely stroll through chilled out pop territory - finds Vacabou blending relaxed vocal melodies to a bossanova beat and a wild west soundscape in something akin to Francoise Hardy fronting a more relaxed Alabama 3. It's in vocalist Pascale Saravelli that the songs here come alive, her breathy vocals injecting that certain European charm - sensual and sublime, yet at the same time with a detachment and ice coolness that lends them an air of mystery and otherworldliness.
Like an updated version of Portishead, TO RUSSIA IN WHITE, fast forwards the trip-hop formula ten years and recreates that same sense of wonder in a wash of delicate beats and gentle melodicism while LIFE AS INTERFERENCE floats along on ambient sound waves and post-rock electronica.
It's sometimes easy to mistake terms like gentle, ambient and chilled for dull, lifeless and bland - as is often the case when bands seem too preoccupied with shiny production techniques, forgetting that you also need a healthy dose of heart and soul in there somewhere. Vacabou seem well aware of this though, with all their smoothness and slick production counterbalanced with enough interesting twists, turns and humanity.
RANNVEIG sounds like the Boards Of Canada being reinterpreted by James Lavelle, lush orchestral passages and low key electronica bleeding into one shimmering whole, BLUE GLASS HIGHWAY on the other hand is almost an acoustic ballad. Showing a level of eclecticism that sets them apart, BARUNKA LEFT is another side-step into fresh territory - mixing warm guitar lines with skeletal beats and pure pop melodies, Vacabou manage to sound like a missing link between Air, Ennio Morricone and The Beatles. Pascalle Saravelli reaches new vocal heights on ICELAND, letting her voice soar with an effortless sounding richness that evokes singers like Bjork or Emiliana Torrinni whilst still maintaining a unique edge and vision.
VACABOU is an album that doesn't immediately grab the attention, it's instead a more steady and engaging affair - the songs taking their time to work their magic. It's the little details and the subtle touches that inform things here, songs like MEDICATION PARK and RANNVEIG taking two or three listens before really taking hold. VACABOU is a record though, that it's worth investing time into - like a subtler version of Royskopp or an updated Portishead. This is a debut with a subtle charm and low-key magic that's infectious.

On 12th September, the Franco-Spanish duo Vacabou release their self-titled debut album through All Saints Records. With the effortless European cool of Air or Royksopp, Vacabou is the perfect soundtrack to a hot, lazy summer.
Writer Juan Feliu met French chanteuse Pascale Saravelli in 2000, and realised he had finally met the voice for his music. The result of their
collaboration is an intoxicating album of sublime electronic talent both musically and lyrically. From the instant classic MEDICATION PARK through the darker waters of BLUE GLASS HIGHWAY - with it's lyrical nod to Bowie's I'm Always Crashing In The Same Car - through to the epic ANGEL OF NIGHT and beautiful, searching RANNVEIG, Vacabou is an album that lets you enjoy the chilled, refreshing air that it breathes into the room.
Vacabou have been compared with Bjork and Portishead but as Juan says, their influences are much more wide ranging. "I'm influenced by artists whose music can't be categorised - people like Leonard Cohen and David Bowie - that's what we wanted to achieve with this album."
Vacabou is at first listen a departure for All Saints Records, home to Brian Eno, Harold Budd and Jon Hassell. But as Dominic Norman-Taylor, MD of All Saints Records, says: "While this album is much more song-based than most of our catalogue, it has a sonic inventiveness and attention to detail that we found utterly compelling".

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