I've given a fair amount of space to Benoit & Sergio over the past year or so and that's because their EP releases have consistently been some of my favourites over that time. Following releases on thesongsays, DFA, Visionquest and Spectral Sound this new EP sees them arrive on the Hot Creations label.
As always Benoit & Sergio don't do anything massively differently from a number of other electronic producers - they just do it with more soul, and they do it better.
The a-side is built around a heavy, robotic bass line - and it's ever-so-slightly Daft Punk in sound. The track has Benoit & Sergio's trademark bruised falsetto vocals though, and they grant 'Bridge So Far' a soulful edge to the harder disco sound. It is mainly about that bass line however - it's both instantaneously catchy and cool.
Over on side-b is the funkier '$100 Bill', and it's full of twisted vocodered vocals and trebly hand-claps & drum-slaps. It also features a wonky, insatiable bass line - think a slick, alien, machine generated take on 'Billie Jean'. This is another side to Benoit & Sergio, more overtly dance-friendly than they are usually, but it demonstrates exactly what their production talent is capable of.
Benoit & Sergio put out better electronic-disco-soul-funk than anyone else and you'd be foolish to sleep on this. Despite their Washington DC-via-Berlin background Bridge So Far is incredibly French and, more importantly, incredibly good.
Bridge So Far is released via Hot Creations on 4 February. Preview via Soundcloud below: