Baobab by Rodriguez Jr.

Rodriguez Jr. returns to Mobilee with his evocative album Baobab. Resident Advisor named the French artist in their Best Live Acts of 2016, and in between his famed live shows, he has created a ten-track masterpiece that elicits powerful emotions through music.

“Baobab is about roots. It has mainly been written whilst travelling, and I needed to reconnect to my roots: the music I used to listen to as a teenager from the South of France, my first parties, this fantastic sense of freshness, enthusiasm, and innocence. This is why I decided to call it Baobab: a big tree proud to grow up in a lush surrounding, with its roots deep in the ground”.

Rodriguez Jr. understands the importance of empty spaces. The purposeful silences in between each track enable reflection on what you have just heard. Skillfully using sounds and effects, he creates a masterclass in emotive music.
Collaborating with Liset Alea, the singer and composer from Nouvelle Vague, whose vocals shine through on three of the tracks of Baobab as well as Rodriguez Jr's own vocals on Heal Me, a track touching on the complexities of being human. Speaking about his collaboration with Liset, Olivier says, “the singer is a key part of this album as her voice is a link between different phases. The interaction in the studio has been extremely spontaneous and emotional”.

An Evidence of Time opens the album with a heartbeat and steps into the intricacies of Olivier's mind. “Wake me, shake me, in the middle of the night, surprise me out of a dream,” Liset Alea sings with a vulnerability on Waste Tomorrow, a track that is like an awakening, ending as abruptly as it begins. Liset returns in Take A Walk, its prolonged introduction heavy in mood and punctuated with piano keys.

Radian floats away with a range of cosmic sounds brimming with atmosphere, and the enchanting Monticello ramps up the intensity. Liset makes her final appearance in The Heart Is A Woman, bringing richness and depth before the album concludes with the elaborate Ellipsism and the anthemic Tomorrow Never Comes.

Award-winning music producer & live performer Rodriguez Jr. also known as Olivier Mateu has spent 25 years in the industry. His vast experience in all genres of electronic music makes him the visionary of melodic house and techno that he is today. Over the years he has gradually honed his style into the dynamic, colorful sound of beauty.

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