Superpoze | Qobuz Interview (with English subtitles)
QobuzFrom his first singles in 2012 and then his brilliant first album, Opening in 2015, we quickly understood that Gabriel Legeleux alias Superpoze was not just another gifted electro tweaker... The complex rhythms, the nuances of his sound layers, tangles of textures and beauty of melodies, the Caen native, then only 23 years old, already had what some people took years to touch with their fingertips: a style. A style that two years later, with For We The Living, refined its contours and proposed even more hypnotic arches. At the same time, Superpoze has worked with musicians from the rap (Nekfeu, Lomepal, Gringe), classical (Sabine Devieilhe) and vocal (Raphael, Eddy de Pretto, Alex Beaupain) worlds, not to mention directors (David Oelhoffen for Frères Ennemis, Rodolphe Lauga for La Source). These collaborations influence or rather feed his personal work.
All this to arrive at Nova Cardinale, at first sight his most confusing piece. Bye bye to the traces of future beats and climatic layers, make way for the lyrical and the organic. Ciao above all to solo work, because this third album was conceived by Superpoze with the help of many musicians. Piano, cello, organ, glockenspiel, viola da gamba, synth, guitar, drums, xylophone, ancient flutes, vibraphone, rhythm boxes, etc., the instrumental farandole is quite impressive and seems to have been summoned to build bridges between centuries and sounds. Whilst this record sounds like a work from 2022, it uses none of the codes of its time. Each theme stretches. Takes its time. Plays with silences and spaces. The minimalism of Philip Glass as well as the music of the Renaissance, or that of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis feed this fascinating symphony which does great things in small steps.
You don't listen to Nova Cardinale in the background or while vacuuming. It's also hard to walk around on any dancefloor. The album doesn't surf on the current neo-classical wave because what it offers is more complex and above all, more daring. A real aesthetic shock on which Superpoze reflects during an interview with Qobuz in his Parisian studio.
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