“Adventure” is an album I only discovered a few months ago, but was released on March 30, 2015 under the label Columbia Records.
While I only discovered it during the fall of 2015, “Adventure” left a big impression on me. I had been following Madeon, a 21 year old French electronic music producer, for a while, listening to his independently released singles and watching him grow as a producer, but right around Thanksgiving I realized I hadn’t listened to his debut album.
Quickly correcting my mistake, “Adventure” took me on a journey I didn’t expect. Starting with “Isometric,” a short introduction comprised of ascending gravelly synths, the album then leads directly into “You’re On,” a French-house track and my second favorite song off the album. “Isometric” and “You’re On” blend into each other, forming a seamless experience for the album’s beginning.
From there comes “OK,” an incredibly energetic dance track where the only vocals are heavily altered OKs that rise and fall in pitch. It sounds bad when you describe it like that, but it’s definitely catchy and a great track. Then comes “La Lune,” featuring Dan Smith, the singer of Bastille (they made that one song “Pompeii” everybody knows) followed by the album’s biggest hit and the only single I remember coming out: “Pay No Mind,” featuring Passion Pit.
“Pay No Mind” is my number one favorite off of “Adventure,” and the one I cannot help but sing along to the entire time. “Pay No Mind” actually has a bit of a narrative to its lyrics, which makes it one of the more impressive tracks considering this is an electronic album. I won’t go into it, because I feel like I can’t give an accurate description, so you should definitely listen to it.
Sadly, most of the songs after “Pay No Mind” fall short to the expectations set by the tracks before them. Not a single song is bad, mind you; they’re just not as memorable.
I’ve listened to “Adventure” roughly forty times and for the life of me I wouldn’t be able to recall anything about the songs after “Pay No Mind.” That’s kind of sad consider “Adventure” is in my top ten albums of 2015.
The album also has a deluxe version, which features four songs not on the standard release, and which don’t really add much to the album apart from a longer playing time. They’re still worth listening to though.
“Adventure” features many catchy, memorable dance tracks that really just make you feel happy, as well as some others that aren’t/don’t. “Zephyr” is an example of a less catchy/memorable/happy song, but it’s still great. Of the songs that don’t come to mind, this one is definitely of a higher tier. It’s pretty intense compared to the rest of tracks.
If you’re into electronic music, feel like dancing, or just want to try something new, then support Madeon and give his first album a listen. You can find “Adventure” on iTunes for $9.99 or on Spotify to be streamed.
