The dreamy, subdued pop charmer “Still Cercle” is a thorough success from Paris-based artist Malou Madi, releasing ahead of her EP What we don’t say, out on January 6th. climactic vocals and a bass-fronted bounce craft an enticing introduction, as twinkling keys assemble a starry-eyed atmospheric feeling. A captivating vocal hook, alongside bird-chirping, emerges like an infectious lullaby — simultaneously lulling and melodically exciting.
With the bass-heavy plucks and dreamy vocals immersing throughout, “Still Cercle” reminds fondly of Little Dragon. Its production (recorded in Brooklyn, Paris, and various touring places) excels. “Still Cercle” plays with a meditative appeal too, which makes sense; the track was written as a “meditative interlude after a confrontation,” and is accompanied by a video that reflects frustrations with those who enter conversations with self-seeking inclinations. Watch it below:
Madi elaborates on the track:
“The main line of the song is on bass, I wrote it while being completely secluded, quarantining in the countryside of France, on my childhood piano, and later recorded some of the vocals during another quarantine, in Japan, before a month-long tour there. I kept hearing this strange melody, created entirely from a feeling of frustration but also slight mockery at someone around me that is incapable of listening. I had this image of conversations always needing to be a circle, your word goes through me and vice-versa, and this is how we hear each other, and evolve together. But sometimes this sensation is absolutely impossible to find with people who only listen to the sound of their own voices.”
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of November 2022’ Spotify playlist.
