Justin Billinger (b. 25 May 1975) met Michel Marsman (b. 30 March 1977) when they both attended the conservatoire of The Hague, the Netherlands. Heavily influenced by French 60’s pop and the 80’s electro sounds filtering across from the UK and the USA, they commenced writing, recording and producing an extensive repertoire of eclectic gems.
One important factor in the duo’s sound is that they are definitely not dance music purists; neither had been to a dance club until 1982 and their music is as influenced as much by Mrs Miller and Trent Reznor as it is by house and techno pioneers such as Laurent Garnier.
There is also a strong streak of old-style new wave running through their work. Their sound, a variant of the new wave electro sound coaxed into a relaxing Prozac vision of the late ’90s, looks back to a variety of phenomena from the period; synthesizer maestros Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre and Tomita, new wave music of the nonspiky variety, and obscure French film soundtracks. Electrique’s self-described ” Pop Electro-Roboscopique” - hypnotically minimal, obliquely rhythmic and performed solely via electro-acoustic means, immerses their music in the world of minimalist electronics.
High-speed train travel emerged as the subject of 2007’s Train Grande Vitesse, which marks an increased gravitation towards musical mechanization. Recorded without a live drummer, the song’s rhythms rely solely on retro drum machine sounds, creating a distinctly robotic and machine-like feel. Performed in large part on the ARP synthesizer, Train Grande Vitesse crystallizes the distinctive ELECTRIQUE sound while marking the group’s first clear move towards conventional pop structure, melody and post-post modernism.
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