La grande évasion (Vinyl) - By:The Offline - Model Number: DM025

Description

Hamburg-based multi-instrumentalist and producer The Offline continues with the advancement of his hip-hop-leaning, library-tinged cinematic world-building, with his second full-length album, ˜La grande evasion™. The album reflects an escape into the unknown, grounded in memory, photography, place, and inner travel. It traces a voyage that taps into freedom and the search for identity “ one that The Offline characterises as one of the oldest and most powerful motifs in human storytelling, which can be found in myths, literature, film and music.
 
Lead single ˜Boulevard National™ takes the setting of the musical story back to the streets of Marseilles “ the city that The Offline™s 2024 ˜Les Cigales™ EP was written in tribute to. Inspired by textures of Anatolian psych and West Coast surf, the song channels the pulse of a city alive with multiculturalism, contrast, and character. Following on from this, ˜Nikonos V™ references the love for analogue photography from which ˜The Offline™ as an idea and musical project stemmed. Breezy and groove-laced, with a warmth reminiscent of Khruangbin, Offthewally and Tommy Guerrero, the track is named after the film camera that accompanies him on coastal explorations. He shares: The special thing about this camera is that it was built for underwater use, so it's always with me when I go to the sea. Incidentally, the photos for the cover of the new album were taken with this camera."
 
Things turn stranger and more surreal turn on 'Le trip' - a woozy, breakbeat-flecked journey featuring a soaring saxophone improvisation from serial collaborator Kimo Eiserbeck. Sitting somewhere between boom-bap, vintage Japanese jazz-funk and BADBADNOTGOOD, it imagines a psychedelic detour through sound - Ever licked a toad in the jungle? asks The Offline. Me neither, but this is what I think it would feel like. If time is needed to process that statement, then The Offline also has your back. Creating an uplifting space for reflection, ˜La belle en lumière™ acts as the emotional centrepiece of the record - a romantic ballad that builds from soft Rhodes chords and a steady groove into The Offline™s trademark, sweeping horn-led drama.
Label
eepMatter

Tracks & Genre

RHYTHM