Johnny Sais Quoi

When much-loved brotherly duo (and Hard of Hearing favourites) Speedboat decided to call it day after a pair of EPs, the British alternative scene lost a great pair synth-pop pranksters. With their tongue-in-cheek 80s revivalism gone, but by no means forgotten, from their ashes emerges the more dancefloor-initiated Johnny Sais Quois. One half of the aforementioned duo, a relocation from Brighton to Marseille has not only determined a suitably francophonic moniker, but also a musical shift to the European flavours of classic Italo Disco. The first glimpse of his “homespun neo synth productions”, and of a debut EP due in March, debut single ‘Love on Ice’ is smooth, decisive, magnetic and aloof. It’s effortlessly addictive too, like a bag of popcorn half-consciously devoured without restraint, whose only tragedy is that it’s finite. (Elvis Thirlwell)