#CHRONIQUE / UK : « THE SOUND OF CONFUSION » 

The keen-eyed amongst you will have noticed a possible French connection from the band name and EP title here. You’d be correct; Bagatelle are made up of a trio from Paris and also the vocals of Andrea Vaughn from Brooklyn band My Favorite, hence the name ‘Rendez-vous Transatlantique’. We don’t need to feel lazy or cliched in stating that the music (musique?) they make is a little on the twee side, as the band describe it this way themselves. Bagatelle are unashamedly an indiepop band and have no wish, or any reason, to argue otherwise. Their aim is to make sweet and melodic pop songs, something they duly do over the course of the four tracks that make up this free EP.

It’s very difficult to put your finger on, but there is an ever so slight continental feel to the music they make, but maybe that’s simply the ingrained culture of the French contingent naturally coming through; it’s possibly most evident in the acoustic guitar. The vocals are soft and delicate and ‘Hey Darlin » is the perfect song to find both of these traits. It’s full of ticking beats and bursts of spangly guitar. They stick to a similar format for ‘Jackson’, although this is maybe a better song, it’s certainly more immediate and adds a slight space-funk element to their sound. They have more than one string to their bow however, and near-instrumental ‘Tchao Signo’ even dabbles in easy-listening but still sounds good. In fact there’s a good argument for Bagatelle’s brand of indiepop to all be described as easy-listening, but when you have good songs that’s nothing to be ashamed of. They finish with ‘In Place of Mr Cook’ which sounds not unlike early releases by The Cardigans and slots nicely into either genre, rounding off a very pleasant EP.

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