SOUND BITES: in the studio
Polo & Pan: (from right) Armand-Delille & Grynszpan.
POLO & PAN’S CYCLORAMA If you slap the “French Touch” label on Polo & Pan, they don’t seem to be upset about it. The chart-topping Parisian duo of Paul “Polo” Armand-Delille and Alexandre “Pan” Grynszpan, who emerged just under a decade ago, is the 21st Century version of the classic and much-replicated electronic sound that permeated the late ’90s and early aughts. “We’re ‘French Touch’ in the wide sense,” Armand-Delille offers drily, “because we’re French.” Très français. Still, Polo & Pan are reconfirming their space in the landscape of French music with their irresistible second album, Cyclorama, the follow-up to 2017’s Caravelle. Released earlier in the year, Cyclorama began from 30 demos, ideas generated while the duo was on tour for Caravelle. They didn’t want to veer too far from the cinematic and playful sound they had already established; at the same time, they wanted to push themselves laterally. One of the ways they did this was to purchase many of the instruments used on Moon Safari, the 1998 classic from fellow French duo Air. These included a Rhodes and Minimoog, among other vintage synthesizers. They also got a 1981 Trident mixer, which they used for its effects. “Our gear evolved, but we had our sound and we tried to not
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