The word "troublant" in French means something like "disturbing" or "upsetting." In the case of KZA's latest single, though, a more precise translation might be "make your heart rise into your throat, causing you to leave you the dance floor because you have something *ahem* caught in your eye." A gorgeous, lovelorn piece of Francophiliac slo-mo disco, you may have caught "Le Troublant Acid" on the fourth volume of I'm Starting to Feel OK, and the tune is well deserving of a 12" of its very own.
One half of Japan's Force of Nature duo, KZA has been clearly spending time expanding on the feel Dig & Edit, which as its name implies relied heavily on nimble crate-digging for its sound sources. "Troublant"'s emotional core comes from neatly sampled string swells and vocals, and there's our man, the mighty little 303, percolating out from underneath it all. With its effortless genre-bending and catchy melodrama you might mistake the tune for an outtake off Daft Punk's Discovery. If Sofia Coppola ever directs an android flick she'll know where to turn for the soundtrack: imagine a dejected C3P0-ish bot, gazing out a taxi cab window at Paris in the pouring rain, headed back to the airport after an emotionally lacerating one-night stand.
Don't worry little droid, says the b-side: Everything happens for the best. Forget about her. Get an oil change, a tune-up and move on. "Mechanique" is a cosmic chugger that will slide nicely among your Cerrone, Soccio and Moroder records, resolutely upbeat, as if to maniacally cast aside "Troublant"'s dose of velvet melancholy. The tune finds its closest affinity with "Troublant" via a somehow very French-sounding chord progression, one that invokes Gauloises, Oxford shoes and lingering eye contact with a comely stranger from across the room.
Buy KZA - Le Troublant Acid at
Tracklist: KZA - Le Troublant Acid
 A Le Troublant Acid
B Mechanique
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