Download from Bandcamp

Digisleeve version of Xavier Boyer's latest solo album, mastered by Phil Shaw Bova. artwork by JLS for Phntm

Includes unlimited streaming of Xavier Boyer - Some/Any/New via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Back in 2007, Xavier Boyer, frontman of French indie maestros Tahiti 80, released his first solo LP “Tutu To Tango” under the nom de plume Axe Riverboy. He didn’t think it would take another 10 years for the follow-up but here it is and it was well worth the wait.

The title ”Some/Any/New” is his nod to Todd Rundgren’s Something Anything album and reflects both the atmosphere and the process. Boyer crafted the new set using a laptop, an 8-track and a few cherished instruments (a groovebox, a guitalele and a casiotone). He also played everything, save a few overdubs recorded with collaborator Stéphane Laporte. The album is awash with classic melodies, sweet Odyssey and Oracle-esque vocals and the songs have a warm, organic glow, enhanced by some rough edges and little imperfections, happy accidents of the DIY nature of the recordings.

Xavier pieced together the album over quite a long period, following a complicated break-up and the beginning of a long-distance relationship - the songs were written in different places, in different towns and houses. Given all of that, it is perhaps surprising that the finished record is so coherent, light-infused and optimistic. What is supremely evident is Xavier’s ability as a songwriter, here he again delivers a set of gorgeous, contemporary and immediate pop songs. From the exquisite harmonies and frayed electronics of “Cherry Cloud Panic” through to the down-tempo, deliciously melancholic track, “Longing/The International Merry-Go-Round”, we are in the company of an artist, confident in his creative ability.

Tahiti 80’s adventure began in the French cities of Rouen and Paris in the mid ‘90s. Taking their name from a souvenir T-shirt , Tahiti 80 has now released !!10 acclaimed albums!! and a number of solo ventures as well!

1. tahiti80.com