Poté is the main alias of
Sylvern Mathurin, a Paris-based electronic music producer whose sound has become increasingly detailed, heady, and song-oriented since his first comparatively straightforward club tracks in the early 2010s. Following numerous singles and EPs for labels run by the likes of
Scratch Perverts,
Branko,
Benji B, and himself, he has joined the roster of
Bonobo's Outlier to issue the album
A Tenuous Tale of Her (2021).
Originally from Saint Lucia,
Poté moved with his family just before his teens to London. The first connection he made as a producer was with
Scratch Perverts, who in 2013 and 2014 issued a couple of his digital EPs and a single that were more commercial in nature -- uptempo electro-house aimed squarely at dancefloors -- than what followed, if designed with the intent to reflect his Caribbean heritage. After a 2015 single for
Branko's Enchufada label,
Poté attracted a licensing deal in the U.K. with Sony. Among the releases supported by the arrangement was 2017's Fire for Fire, an EP with featured appearances from Carmody and
Kojey Radical.
Another door opened in 2018 when BBC DJ
Benji B took interest and issued Spiral, My Love, a set of seven tracks with another
Kojey Radical collaboration, on his Deviation label. Also that year,
Poté added to his quickly lengthening reach with a remix of
Gorillaz's "Tranz" that led to him taking part in
Africa Express, a pan-global project devised by that group's
Damon Albarn.
Poté relocated to Paris and established a club night and label of his own, both named Versicolor, and continued with a pair of two-track EPs and "Pearls" issued across 2020. Supported by yet another artist-operated label,
Bonobo's Outlier,
Poté put together
A Tenuous Tale of Her. The full-length, released in 2021, was led by the single "Young Lies," another collaboration with
Albarn. ~ Andy Kellman