WERS 88.9 fm - Album Review: Yuksek - Away From The Sea

  August 27^th, 2009

Pierre-Alexandre Busson, better known as Yuksek, is becoming one of France's most well-known electronic music artists.  His catchy remixes of performers such as Lady Gaga, Moby, and Phoenix have caught the ears of the electronic world, and this spring he released his debut album, Away From The Sea. 

 Known for the range of styles he exhibits in his music, Yuksek's Away From The Sea is the story of a flirtatious game between two young people that gives you samples of everything from electrofunk, hip-hop, house, and garage rock. All-in-all, it's a piece of nuanced and trendy production that continues to push the sounds of electronic music into mainstream culture.

 The album's opening track, "Break Ya," sets a tone for the album that includes heavy build-ups that at times leave you craving more. He doesn't fail to impress with features like Amanda Blank on the album's most popular hit, "Extraball." Edgy lyrics from Blank like, "it's purely physical / catch that noise, better catch this sound, cause I break these boys and I wreck this town," exemplify undertones of lust and flirtation with a gritty attitude that does nothing but glamorize Yuksek's progressive production sound.  Tracks like "Little Dirty Trip," "So Far Away From The Sea (featuring The Bewitched Hands)," and "I Like to Play," continue to work off this theme with lyrics from Yuksek like, "You know you can't let go cause your body's moving so (hot) / and the music's sounding so (hot)."

 Most of the album's tracks keep your feet moving with catchy loops and heavily built-ups, tracks like "So Down," featuring Chromeo and the hidden track, "Tonight," gives the listener a more chilled-out state-of-mind. 

 Some are wary of Yuksek's debut, and his amateur-cum-mainstream approach to the electronic music scene.  But despite that, Yuksek's debut performance manages to maintain an innovative, of-the-moment flair that any electronic music fan (or any fan of music at all) can pick up, dance to and enjoy.

 -Nicholas Garlow