It’s difficult to know how many versions there are of the French touch… One thing is for sure - through it’s sheer quality and quantity, this Gallic electro scene never fails to deliver new virtuosos every week. Utopia, the debut album from Terence N’Guyen, a.k.a. Darius, is all the proof you need. Emerging on the record label Roche Musique (Kartell, FKJ, Cherokee, Karma Kid, Zimmer, Jordan Lee, Dabeull, Plage 84…) via the label Animal63, this is an impeccable alloy of house, nu soul, downtempo and smooth funk, soaked with multiple influences. Hedonistic and refined, this album offers shades of chillwave (more dreamy than Toro Y Moi and Washed Out combined!), with noteworthy hip-hop beats of the late J Dilla verging on languid trip hop (like Massive Attack’s Mezzanine). Above all, it’s an album full with viscerally dreamy soul. On five of the tracks, Darius welcomes on board three misty and sensual voices. Those of Wayne Snow, the Nigerian based in Berlin, the American folk singer Max Jury and the Australian E^ST. Interventions that glue perfectly with the soundscapes created by this young electronic goldsmith who meanders through the minds of those who opt for his Utopia. © MZ/Qobuz