Album Review: Holy Two x Zerolex - Eclipse

Eclipse EP is out today in vinyl edition and on download via Cascade Records. The project gathers Zerolex and Holy Two, two French acts hailing respectiviely from Besançon and Lyon. If they share a country in common, their music styles are quite different.

Zerolex is also known as a quarter of the electro band Cotton Claw. He is deeply influenced by hip hop & jazz and is a talented beatmaker.

On the other hand, Holy Two is a duet made of Elodie and Hadrien. Both of them blend folk-infused vocals to electro-pop sounds.

At first sight, the blending of their two universes may seem odd. But once you listen to the record, every doubts vanish. The two acts team up to create Eclipse: Zerolex lends his beatmaking talents to build up dreamy productions on which Elodie's voice fits perfectly.

Eclipse is the kind of record you want to listen to late at night. It will drive you to an etheral and spatial sphere - out of time & out of space.

It kicks off with "No Return", a warning shot already revealing that you won't be the same after this sonorous experience. The instrumental lightly guides you on a luminious track, but then the pace accelerates and the vocals are quite close to rapping. To go on a flighty mood, you may want to go out of the spaceship and try "Hover"? You might actually want to try it twice and discover Zerolex's rework of the song. This time, the tempo is slightly lower, and mechanical beats have been added on... As if the spaceship were not to take off again.

Another side, another atmosphere.
Side B opens on "Moonbeam" - it's video clip has been made by Holden and follows the memento mori pattern. In spite of the name, It's the darkest track of the record, but I do find some similitudes with Chet Faker on some part of the song - especially in the backing vocals that bring comfort in this sadness. "Rush" has a XX-influenced sound, it's aery, melodic and chill out. "Rush" remix closes Eclipse, this time Zerolex injects a more mechanical and oppresive atmosphere. There's a sense of urgency in this version, as if we had to enjoy this furtive collab to its fullest until the end of Eclipse...