REVIEW: Le Couleur’s “P.O.P”

Le Couleur, P.O.P (Lisbon Lux)

If you’re looking for the club incarnation of classic French pop, with a shimmering ’80s veneer, then look to Montreal trio le Couleur. There’s a heavily finessed mix of moody synths and powerful bass-driven tracks here that create some of the most intriguing dark pop out there. By the album’s second half, the songs become somewhat samey and the strength of the writing is inconsistent. Overall, though, the album benefits from excellent sequencing, progressing sonically with subtle layers of deep, sophisticated synth and bass sounds. This is le Couleur’s third LP (they’ve also released a handful of EPs) and they’ve clearly developed a knack for building a mood that carries an album from start to finish. 8/10 Trial Track: “P.O.P” (Owen Maxwell)

Le Couleur perform as part of the outdoor Noë l Dans le Parc event series, alongside Qualité Motel and Voyage Funktastique, at Place Émilie-Gamelin (Ste-Catherine & Berri) on Friday, Dec. 16, 7 p.m. (le Couleur set at 8:30 p.m.), free