- When we talk about "big" dance records, it's often a measure of emotional impact. In Hivern Discs' case, these emotions can feel conflicted. The A-side of Lost Scripts' recent 10-inch for the label's edit series seemed to portray a wounded ego—"S.O.P."'s melody made your chest swell, but the sour notes gave it an air of defeat. Quentin, the duo of John Talabot and Marc Piñol, delve deeper into these moods on Mirage / Rain. The record sleeve has a quote from philosopher Quentin Smith's The Felt Meanings Of The World: "This world exists nonnecessarily, improbably and causelessly. It exists for absolutely no reason at all."
In the same way that Smith goes on to explain what he considers unexplainable, Talabot and Piñol evoke the ambiguities that can make this sort of euphoric-yet-worn-down club music so compelling. "Mirage" has been a mainstay of the Hivern crew's sets for some time, and you can hear why. The synths and bass, soft and insistent, stack onto the arpeggios in thin layers. Some of the sounds—a mouth click, a stringier synth—give "Mirage" an earthy tone, and those bits keep it from sounding too syrupy. You could accuse "Rain" of being overly sweet, but it depends on your taste in vocals. When given room to breathe, the sultry R&B singing sounds great. But when Quentin loop the syllables for emphasis, it's like adding icing to an already finished cake.