TALITRES 24th April 2026
A swinging set of swinging and warm sixties-style songs with smooth and groovy backing, full of vintage instruments and red velvet sofas. Think Gainsbourg, Scott Walker (in his MOR period), Lee Hazlewood, Burt Bacharach. Great soundtrack for any bachelor pad and fans of The Divine Comedy will find much to love here. Maxwell Farrington is the owner of the rich baritone voice but Christophe Vaillant aka Le SuperHommard (super-lobster) makes the fabulously groovy music.
With a knowing sense of humour, the lyrics bring a smile – and I’ve never heard ‘ass’ rhymed with ‘mise en place’ before. The duo, an Australian and a Frenchman, live in France and this is their third album collaboration. The title track isn’t actually a treatise on the Georgian-era tax on windows and is about getting a window seat in a restaurant. Focus in on the cute throwaway lines or grab onto the voice or luxuriate in the warm pillows of the swanky music; there’s plenty to enjoy here.
We hear a tale of the everyday beauty of the supermarket, of the joy of fish and chips. ‘Fish And Chips’ has strong musical echoes of Gainsbourg’s ‘Melodie Nelson’ and that’s a compliment round these ways. A dramatic tale of missing and stolen food leads to the titular fried treat. Sweeping string sounds have no problem with being blended with sequencers or other modern sounds on songs like ‘Supermarket’ with no jarring sense of juxtaposition thanks to the input of one of folktronica icons, Tuung, on production.
A left-field treat, the sort of thing to listen to on vinyl with an aniseed-flavoured spirit of your choice.
Ross McGibbon