Alone Together

Album review

Since starting out ten years ago as a hip-hop and chill electro producer for Délicieuse Musique, Parisian electronic producer Viken Arman has established himself as one of the leading names on the melodic house scene, exporting his contemplative music to all four corners of the globe. But for his first album, he took refuge in the beating heart of the global electronic scene, in Berlin. The city of a thousand clubs has often been a springboard for the artists it has hosted over the last twenty years, and Arman is no exception. Though he may have dreamed of a first album filled with collaborations with jazz musicians and singers, on Alone Together (the title says it all) he stands proudly alone, without guests or vocals. "What's important is that it's aligned with the present moment. You don't always have to overthink it", he philosophises. Throughout the writing of the album the energy of dance music is ever-present, with tracks of varying formats at 2, 4 and 9 minutes in length, as well as twists such as the unstoppable “You Don’t Hurt Me” where he accelerates the beat right at the drop before going into electro swing mode, breathing an irresistible pulse into the second half of the track. He alternates between shamanic house à la Acid Pauli (with whom he released “Reading from a Secret” in 2022) and French Touch-style house (“Can't Do Without You”) before bringing this trippy journey to a close with “Alone Together”, launched by a cosmic synth which is joined by an endlessly stubborn keyboard loop. One for the club or the desert! © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz