Hyperion
Gesaffelstein came to fame with a darkly glamorous spin on techno: the suave international man of mystery to Daft Punk’s chrome disco-bots. Six years after the French producer brought EBM to Kanye’s “Black Skinhead,” he returns with an even broader sound than the one he displayed on his 2013 debut album, *Aleph*. No stranger to pop royalty, he corrals The Weeknd for “Lost in the Fire,” a velvety expanse of darkwave R&B, and he recruits Pharrell for “Blast Off,” a throwback electro-funk epic that’s just begging for soundtrack placement. Even HAIM turns up, on “So Bad,” bringing a ray of California sunshine to Gesaffelstein’s cavernous, claustrophobic sound. What might impress the most is the purism of his strictly electronic fugues: “Hyperion” is pure flickering analog dread, “Reset” offers a gothic twist on trip-hop, and “Humanity Gone” closes the album with nearly 11 minutes of funereal dirge, channeling ’70s synth prog through the austerity of 21st-century minimalism at its most stylish.
The second album by the French producer Gesaffelstein brings in big pop collaborators like Haim and Pharrell.
On ‘Hyperion’, producer Gesaffelstein fails to recreate his past glories, turning in a confused and lacklustre record.
French producer Gesaffelstein (aka Mike Lévy), let too much time go by between album projects.