French instrumental outfit Les Agamemnonz have shared their new jovial single “Artemis” via a premiere with Aesthetic Magazine. The song was taken from their upcoming album Amateurs due out June 11, 2021 on Hi-Tide Recordings. The band describes the newest song as a “chivalrous dance dedicated to wilderness and childbirth,” a nod to the Greek goddess of the same name. Fans can check out “Artemis” now.
On “Artemis”, the band shares, “This tune is a tribute to Joe Meek, who can be considered as the father of [our] home studio. We managed to get a functioning Clavioline, a legendary forerunner to the analog synthesizer. We recorded this track on a Sunday morning, after a short night sleeping on the studio’s floor between the gears. The night before, we just recorded Diana, a single we released in 2018, and Benjamin woke up with an idea. He said: I think we should try an instro version of this one. With coffee in one hand, we took our instruments and started recording this new version. We felt it sounded great, but we had to wait two more years to be fully satisfied, as one thing was missing: a real clavioline.”
Ahead of the release of Amateurs the band has shared additional singles: “Xiphias“, “Mount Capitola“, and “No Shoes No Service,” which highlight the French band’s American influence. On the upcoming album the band shares, “The making of this album has been a very long process, and we are very excited to make it public soon! Especially during times when gigs don’t exist anymore, it is heartwarming to be able to share new music with people.”
Playing on the ambivalence of the word that designates the enamored connoisseur as well as the non-professional, Amateurs is paradoxically the band’s most ambitious production, both in writing, arrangements, orchestration, and recording. In addition to references to their spiritual father Joe Meek (“Artemis”), or to a more French legacy (“Conseils de la Fe des Lilas”), it is unquestionably their most “American” record, with clear references to the golden age of studios (“Theme from ‘Amateurs’ “), to a certain cinema (“Redwood Heights”), or to more personal experiences of touring the United States (“No Shoes No Service”). It is in all coherence that this album is also their first collaboration with the American label Hi-Tide Recordings.
For the past decade, Les Agamemnonz have performed hundreds of gigs, in concert halls, art centers, apartments, on village squares, beaches, boats, etc., across Europe and the United States. Never leaving their Greek “chitons”, playing barefoot come rain or shine, they get eclectic audiences to dance, ignite all age groups and, being instrumental, cross easily all language barriers.
If the craze they generate goes far beyond the borders of their genre niche, it is however the surf music community who give them the greatest honors, by placing their previous album in 3rd position of the 100 Best Surf Records of the Decade or by positioning them as headliner of the Asbury Park Surf Music Festival.
As acknowledged figures of this international scene, Les Agamemnonz stand out by their ability to quote the classics (The Ventures, The Astronauts, etc.) while developing a sound and a writing of their own. The tightness of their rhythmics and the originality of their arrangements draw from their deep interest in all forms of electric instrumental music that have flourished all over the world (Eleki music in Japan, Rautalanka in Finland, instro in France, electric Cumbia, Sega, etc.).
About Les Agamemnonz
Les Agamemnonz is composed of Benjamin Bonaventure (lead guitar), Simon Ripoll-Hurier (rhythm guitar), Gregory Bonaventure (bass), and Andr Pasquet (drums). Additional musicians featured on the album include Michael Jacques (french horn, trombone, trumpet, flugelhorn), Frederic Jouhannet (violins), Antoine Berland (medium grand piano), and Zach Robbins (field recording).
