An appreciation for analogue warmth and the compositional potentials of early synthesizers runs in Augustin and Zoé Sjollema’s family: The Geneva duo’s second album under the name Citron Citron features a vintage EMS synth the two inherited from their grandfather Rainer Boesch. This doesn’t mean that the Sjollema siblings are stuck in the past: Though »Maréeternelle« begins like a recently unearthed Mort Garson recording, it becomes joyfully poppy once Zoé’s French vocals enter the picture. There’s passages in which the eleven pieces call to mind the more playful albums of Stereolab or Broadcast at their most cheerful, but their take on what could be called art synth pop is vividly unique.
Enriching their sound through contributions by L’éclair’s Sébastian Bui and the always-wonderful Fhunyue Gao on theremin as well as overdubs added at the Swiss Museum for Electronic Music Instruments, the Sjollema siblings manage to suspend time altogether: Yes, there’s 1970s synth work all over the place, yes, the rhythm section seems to consist entirely of 1980s drum machine presets, yes, that’s some in-your-face 1990s-style twee the two of them are putting on display here—but it all comes together so naturally and seamlessly, you don’t even realise that these sweet little ditties are talking about existential and at times downright abysmal themes. »Maréeternelle« is a rare work of almost-child-like wonder, a truly special pop record.
Maréeternelle
