On Forty Eight Hours, which came out on Pschent in 2012, produced by Arnaud Rebotini, Yan Wagner was not hiding his passion for the electro-pop and new wave sounds of the 1980s. This penchant of his was amplified by the presence on one track of one Etienne Daho. Between the solemnities of Depeche Mode (his voice recalls that of Dave Gahan) and the synth sounds of the New Order period (Ceremony), the Franco-American producer offers up an electro which perfectly balances light and shade, the somewhat cerebral and introspective, and the open dancefloor. This is a universe that we find again, five years later, in This Never Happened. The ghosts of Depeche Mode are certainly present on Blacker, and Bowie's shade also appears on SlamDunk Cha-Cha. Produced by Wagner himself, the sound is warmer this time, more sophisticated. With the voice of a modern crooner, somewhere between Lee Hazlewood and Frank Sinatra (whose It Was A Very Good Year he revisits), he works miracles and renders each song more human. The analogue synths and the drum machines are still in the mix, but Yan Wagner brings a more mature tone and masterful style to this second album. © MD/Qobuz