GREGUY - Minor Injury

Greguy - Minor Injury

6 songs
18:05 minutes
*****
Bearsuit

Bandpage

Bearsuit Records usually challenge their listeners with experimental music, so imagine my surprise when I first listened to the EP Minor Injury by Greguy, a young electronic artist from Strasbourg, France. His influences go back to Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis, but he is also open to more modern sounds. I guess the latter comprise the likes of Air and especially Sébastien Tellier.

And that’s where Greguy’s main problem lies for now: he may be a very talented songwriter, but his music eventually sounds too tame for its own good. One might label this genre ambient pop, but as such, it is too catchy for ambient and too harmless even for pop.

The overall sound feels very Eighties, with the synthesizers and the programmed beats adding a chilly atmosphere. Even the manually played viola on the opener and title track feels too linear, too full of possibly a chorus effect that robs the instrument of its natural wobbliness. Otherwise Greguy is also helped by two additional vocalists, a bass player and a guitarist, although the latter feels very unobtrusive. Greguy’s vocals are mellow, slightly hushed, and the English lyrics come with a very strong accent, and it’s here where I feel so reminded of Air and Tellier.

As I mentioned earlier, Greguy has a certain amount of talent, but what he does with it leaves me rather clueless right now. I wish his music were just a tiny little bit more abrasive and organic, and all of this could become something really exciting. Fans of chilled down romantic pop from the plastic Eighties might get some nostalgic kicks out of Minor Injury, but I leave this short six track EP with very ambivalent feelings, and therefore dish out a neutral five point grade.

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