April March & Aquaserge by April March & Aquaserge (Album)

April March and Aquaserge-Album cover

April March and Aquaserge

An accomplished self-titled album that sees Stereolab’s French disko meeting April March’s songwriting prowess in front of the Eiffel Tower


April March and Aquasergehe only song I had previously heard by April March was the rocky Chick Habit for Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. It was a surprise when the album began, then, to hear a drift of French pop with hazy, 60s-styled psychedelia for backing. This album is very French, darling. It’s April March (Elinor Blake)’s love affair on the Rive Gauche. It’s the ambience to smoking a hookah in a sunny side street cafe on the cobbles. It’s walking along the Pont Alexandre cheek-to -cheek with votre amour, sharing headphones.

The self-titled album is filled with acoustic guitar and tambourine hits which relate to April March’s description: “a sea voyage from France to New York, then by land across the southern route of the States, ending on the coast in California with percussive flashes of time travel mayhem along the way.” It makes me think of friends with instruments and no direction to head but towards the sunlight, collaborating to make something original in a moment that’s been captured on tape while travelling. Male harmonies entwine with the soft, Parisienne purr of Blake’s vocals (who isn’t actually French).

In fact, none of them are. Blake’s collaborators, Aquaserge, feature a mélange of Tame Impala, Melody’s Echo Chamber and Stereolab. Their forthcoming album was written and subsequently recorded between Blake’s US apartment and the band’s barn in Vallesvilles, near Toulouse in the French countryside.

Verdict: Song to take on holiday with you: Ready Aim Love. C’est superbe!

Scarlett Parker




There are no comments

Add yours

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Songwriting Magazine