Today we have the pleasure of premiering the new album from Brooklyn electronic artist Pas Musique. Entitled ‘Come Follow Me’, (not to be confused with the record’s lead track), this new offering comes by way of American experimental music imprint Alrealon Musique. Channeling the raw energy of industrial electronica, Pas Musique crafts a cacophonous yet electrifying soundscape, translating into a mind-bending experience – also heads up to fans of Alien Sex Fiend, White Hills and Martin Bisi.
Pas Musique was launched in 1995 Brooklyn as a solo abstract-sound project of founder Robert L. Pepper, having since evolved through different lineups and variations of experimental electronic iterations. Layers of electronic manipulation weave a dark, brooding tension, a signature element now joined by vocals for the first time on this album. In these seven tracks, we find a tasteful tribute to the late Frank Tovey a.k.a. Fad Gadget. Over the years, it is clear that this artist’s music has also been influenced by such artists as Faust, Coil, Zoviet France and NEU,
Robert L. Pepper explains, “This is the first album where I added vocals and not solely vocalizations. It’s a balance of the commercial and the strange. It is a tribute to the pop-industrial project Fad Gadget so I tried to keep my experimental edge and add in some pop elements. I never thought I would be trying something like this. But if you know Pas Musique’s history, we change periodically with different styles. I like to keep the sound fresh and challenge the project sonically. It started with a concept of “Could I make an album with vocals, while dipping into a pop edge?” So I wrote sequences that use some 80’s sounding synth sounds in the style of Fad Gadget. Then the vocals just came to me. ‘Come Follow Me’ was the first track that materialized and then the workflow began. Tracks just evolve naturally.”
Tracing their roots deriving from 80’s synthpop, these compositions mesh contemporary noise, lyrics that are inspired by metaphysical and philosophical themes, and abstract vocalizations. Earlier, Pas Musique shared the title track and the single ‘Too Civilized’, which blasts the myth of progress, implying that the shiny veneer of progress masks a society and systems that have been degraded – a regression of our own making.
The new album follows up 2023’s ‘Shaman’ album and 2021’s ‘Amateur Radio’, when Pas Musique was a four-piece consisting of Jon V Worthley, Michael Durek, Jesse Fairbairn and Robert L. Pepper. While still involved with live performances (and other recordings currently in the works, it is solely Pepper involved in the new album.
Since emerging on the music scene 29 years ago, Pas Musique has pursued musical elements of electronic and experimental music with krautrock undertones. Pas Musique has collaborated with many great musicians, including Faust, Rapoon, ZEV, Philippe Petit, HATI, Chester Hawkins, Jim Tuite, and many more. Pas Musique has performed in 18 countries and throughout the United States. Pas Music is also currently working with Robin Storey of Rapoon on other completely avant, experimental, improvisational compositions.
On July 12, the ‘Come Follow Me’ album will be available everywhere digitally, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. It will also be released by Alrealon Musique on CD.
CREDITS
Written and performed by Robert L. Pepper
Recorded, mixed, mastered & produced by Pas Musique
Catalog Number: ALRN145
Video created by Pas Musique
Film footage by Anrrea Dune, Anthony Donovan, Audrey Dégez, Black Saturn, Brandstifter, Cristobal Eme, Damien Olsen, Dan Gitlin, Daniel McKleinfeld, El Santo del Rock, Jim Tuite, Jon Worthley, Katrin Rätte, Ken Beckford, Kensaku Nishizato, Kurt Schamann, Lazaro LaVista, Linda Ganus, Marc Edwards, Meeky, Rute Ventura, Shaun Sandor, Susannah Gilley Nishizato, Thomas Boettner (Straight Panic) & William Kurtis Chang (張光偉)
Artist photos by y Robert L. Pepper
Cover artwork and photography by Pas Musique
Released by Alrealon Musique
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
TOUR DATES
SEPT 07 Salem, MA – Sonorium/SATV
SEPT 11 Boston, MA – O’Brien’s Pub
SEPT 12 Troy, NY – No Fun
SEPT 14 Homer, NY – NEEM Fest/Homer Center For the Arts
SEPT 16 Buffalo, NY -Mohawk Place
SEPT 20 Columbus, OH – Frequency Fridays at Fuse Factory
SEPT 21 Chicago, IL – Tri Triangle
SEPT 22 Indianapolis, IN – The Irving Theater
SEPT 23 St. Louis, MO – William Kerr Foundation
SEPT 24 Nashville, TN – Random Sample
SEPT 25 Memphis, TN – The Lamplighter
SEPT 26 Louisville, KY, CAMP
SEPT 27 Athens, GA – Bolo Bolo
SEPT 28 North Charleston, SC – Tualingua
Explore the eclectic electronic world of Pas Musique
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