It’s been three years since Petit Biscuit released his breakthrough album, Presence, which earned global chart status and its own headline tour. While the French songwriter/producer, lesser known as Mehdi Benjelloun, has been on a steady, yet cautious release schedule since the 2017 debut, it seems he had some much-needed soul searching and global exploration to do before the follow-up product.
Parachute was recorded during uneasy travel schedules and shared life experiences, including sessions in Los Angeles and self-isolation on the coast of Iceland. With some new perspective and enough time to escape from life’s daily stresses, Benjelloun was able to build a body of work that displays introspective lyrics touching on love, life, and death, delving further into his own talents as a vocalist.
The nine-track LP, released on Écurie, includes lead singles “I Leave Again,” a cooling summer anthem in collaboration with Shallou, and “Drivin’ Thru The Night,” as well as a feature from quarantine superstar Diplo on “Pick Your Battles,” a dreamy composition with sonically pleasing bass and some—likely Thomas Wesley-influenced—country-esque guitar riffs. Other standouts include “Constellation,” a slow melodic arrangement that puts Petit Biscuit’s vocals on the forefront and fuses classic rock guitar with hip-hip elements on the break, akin to something one would expect from GRiZ or Big Gigantic, and a buzz, alternative-leaning track called “Gwana,” which proves to be an instant festival pleaser upon first listen. On his creative evolution during the album process, Petit Biscuit explains:
“You’re waking up, you’re thinking about your project. You’re going to sleep, you’re thinking about your project. It’s taken all my life and I realized I needed to think about other things for my mental health, to feel a bit more normal. I focused on other activities and I took time to see my friends more, to talk with people and have real conversations. It was a time to question myself, what I believed in, and what I wanted. It was a long road, but I think I came out on the other side a better person and more comfortable with who I was.”
Parachute comes packaged with an exhilarating lyric video for the Diplo collaboration, which shows Biscuit pulling an open parachute across what could either be a desert field or the planet Mars with some imagination. Listen to Petit Biscuit’s Parachute LP in full below.
Source: dancingastronaut.com
