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Music

Breakbot Stay Sexy on Their New Single, "2Good4Me"

Get an exclusive listen to "2Good4ME" while you read our Q/A with the Parisian funk makers.
David Garber
Photo by So Me

Back in my college years, I was known amongst my peers for compiling iTunes playlists intended to soundtrack various "bedroom activities." Alongside a collection of Isley Brothers-esque soul, deep-house era Kaskade, and grooving 90s trip-hop—was a French artist by the name of Breakbot. With a slew of romantically-inclined anthems sweetly packed inside their breakout 2012 debut

By Your Side

, the group's synth-licks and saucy vocoder croons provided a surefire way to overcome whatever problems may arise from consuming 13 cans of stale Natural Light over the course of a night.

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While I'm now (apparently) a member of the "real world" and no longer a student, it appears aspiring collegiate charmers will continue to have producer Thibaut Berland and his longtime vocal co-conspirator Irfane Khan-Acito (together known as Breakbot) in their corner. If you didn't hear—the duo is set to release a new album, Still Waters, February 5 on Busy P's Ed Banger Records. We just happen to have their latest single below for your streaming pleasure, as well as a conversation with the duo below that.


Back in my college years, I was known amongst my peers for compiling iTunes playlists intended to soundtrack various "bedroom activities." Alongside a collection of Isley Brothers-esque soul, deep-house era Kaskade, and grooving 90s trip-hop—was a French artist by the name of Breakbot. With a slew of romantically-inclined anthems sweetly packed inside their breakout 2012 debut

By Your Side

, the group's synth-licks and saucy vocoder croons provided a surefire way to overcome whatever problems may arise from consuming 13 cans of stale Natural Light over the course of a night.


While I'm now (apparently) a member of the "real world" and no longer a student, it appears aspiring collegiate charmers will continue to have producer Thibaut Berland and his longtime vocal co-conspirator Irfane Khan-Acito (together known as Breakbot) in their corner. If you didn't hear—the duo is set to release a new album, Still Waters, February 5 on Busy P's Ed Banger Records. We just happen to have their latest single below for your streaming pleasure, as well as a conversation with the duo below that.


THUMP: It's been 4 long years since your last album and you guys have been relatively quiet on the production front. What have you been up to?
Breakbot:

We were really lucky to tour up until the summer of the 2014. All in all we must have spent about two years on the road, and that was definitely a great experience. What was particularly comforting was how great our audiences were in all parts of the world, from South America to Japan. It's really reassuring in way, like "hey, I'm doing the right thing". So although it's been four years, it really feels like we've only put the previous album behind us for two. Since then, there have been a bunch of collaborations and remixes we've worked on, but we've spent most of the last two years working on this new album.


Where was the album recorded?
We actually started working on songs while on tour. So some of the songs have been there for a while. Music has always provided an ideal escape for the both of us so it just felt natural to keep on working, or at least creating, while we were doing other stuff. And, thanks to modern technology, you can make great music with just a laptop. The hard part was actually finishing the songs. I think that's an issue we're not the only ones to be confronted with. There should be a sort of group therapy camp about finishing songs

Do you guys spend a lot of time just messing around in the studio without the actual intention of making a song?
There was a lot of doodling involved. The creative process on this album was much looser than on the first; sometimes Thibaut would have a beat idea and we'd go from there, sometimes Irfane would have a melody idea and Thibaut would build around it. Sometimes we'd just jam. At one point though - this was around early 2015 - we decided it was time to wrap up. We decided to go to Thibaut's brother David's studio. He's also an avid musician and has been producing and collecting synths and gear for decades. With him, we listened to every track in detail and started replacing bass and synth parts, adding some elements of live drumming, live bass. For the gearheads amongst you, most of the synth basses on the album were done on a Memory Moog, many of the leads with an SH-3, and we dubbed many of the drums with a Linn LM-1.

Is there an underlying focus of the album as a whole? Just reading the track names—it seems like it could be about sex.
Well, it could be this whole album IS about sex. The secret is to mold a very personal or intimate experience into something that anyone can relate to. And also to leave the listener with some level of interpretation. So in that way, it's a great compliment for you to say that. At least now we know what's really on YOUR mind.

Tell us a bit about the track we're premiering today
It's us trying our best to make an R&B tune—except that, rather than talk about money, girls and clothes, the song is about guilt and forgiveness. The synths and vocal treatment give it a very modern feel, but the live bass and hi-hats keep it very retro.

Pre-order Still Waters

THUMP: It's been 4 long years since your last album and you guys have been relatively quiet on the production front. What have you been up to?

Breakbot:

We were really lucky to tour up until the summer of the 2014. All in all we must have spent about two years on the road, and that was definitely a great experience. What was particularly comforting was how great our audiences were in all parts of the world, from South America to Japan. It's really reassuring in way, like "hey, I'm doing the right thing". So although it's been four years, it really feels like we've only put the previous album behind us for two. Since then, there have been a bunch of collaborations and remixes we've worked on, but we've spent most of the last two years working on this new album.

Where was the album recorded?
We actually started working on songs while on tour. So some of the songs have been there for a while. Music has always provided an ideal escape for the both of us so it just felt natural to keep on working, or at least creating, while we were doing other stuff. And, thanks to modern technology, you can make great music with just a laptop. The hard part was actually finishing the songs. I think that's an issue we're not the only ones to be confronted with. There should be a sort of group therapy camp about finishing songs

Do you guys spend a lot of time just messing around in the studio without the actual intention of making a song?
There was a lot of doodling involved. The creative process on this album was much looser than on the first; sometimes Thibaut would have a beat idea and we'd go from there, sometimes Irfane would have a melody idea and Thibaut would build around it. Sometimes we'd just jam. At one point though - this was around early 2015 - we decided it was time to wrap up. We decided to go to Thibaut's brother David's studio. He's also an avid musician and has been producing and collecting synths and gear for decades. With him, we listened to every track in detail and started replacing bass and synth parts, adding some elements of live drumming, live bass. For the gearheads amongst you, most of the synth basses on the album were done on a Memory Moog, many of the leads with an SH-3, and we dubbed many of the drums with a Linn LM-1.

Is there an underlying focus of the album as a whole? Just reading the track names—it seems like it could be about sex.
Well, it could be this whole album IS about sex. The secret is to mold a very personal or intimate experience into something that anyone can relate to. And also to leave the listener with some level of interpretation. So in that way, it's a great compliment for you to say that. At least now we know what's really on YOUR mind.

Tell us a bit about the track we're premiering today
It's us trying our best to make an R&B tune—except that, rather than talk about money, girls and clothes, the song is about guilt and forgiveness. The synths and vocal treatment give it a very modern feel, but the live bass and hi-hats keep it very retro.

Pre-order Still Waters

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