Billed as "love music" and released during the week of Valentine’s Day may cause alarm bells to ring in the heads of those with even the most catholic of tastes. However, such misgivings prove to be unfounded, with Kitsuné Love triggering memories of the great French compilations of the mid-to-late nineties such as the Sourcelab series and Superdiscount.
Featuring exclusive material from some more familiar names (Gonzales, Shakedown, Playgroup, Todd Edwards) as well as those less well known (Lacquer, Dominique Torti, Romauld), the quality remains high throughout with Kitsuné’s vision of house proving to be surprisingly broad.
This fact is brought home on opener, ‘Too Long’, featuring avant-garde hip-hopper Gonzales crooning over a beautiful piano on a barely recognisable cover of the Daft Punk track. The tack is abruptly changed with Ernest Saint-Laurent’s eighties tinged, pop-house effort ‘Perfect Love’, while up next, Shakedown’s ‘Love Game’ continues the theme, utilising a similarly smooth male vocal.
Other highlights include Playgroup’s thudding, sleazy groove, ‘Hooked on U’, the combination of flute, skipping beats and cut-up vocals on Todd Edwards’ ‘Thank You’ and the trademark, wide-screen warmth of Alan Braxé and Fred Falke on ‘Love Lost’.
Overall, it’s hard not to be wooed by Kitsuné’s amorous approaches with the quality of ‘Love’ on offer - go on, give in and find yourself a truly harmonious relationship!
Reviewed by Colin Chapman
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