On Écoute: L’Indécis

Unwind with the chill-hop master

For those unfamiliar with chill-hop, welcome to your initiation. C’est simple. Find a snug nook, slip on your best pair of headphones and sink into sensory bliss – this is a music genre committed to soothing its listeners (the clue’s in the name), so you might as well play the part.

Chill-hop is, for all intents and purposes, an electronic fusion of chill-out music and hip-hop. Common threads include a slow tempo, broken beats and jazzy elements – the kind of mellow listening perfectly suited to your ‘rainy Sunday’ playlist, in other words. Sometimes, there are surprises, too – like the sound of fresh coffee being poured into a mug, or a poignant soundbite plucked from a film.

As with most musicians these days, the dulcet tones of French producer L’Indécis can easily be found on YouTube and SoundCloud. One of the most influential chill-hop artists out there, his work is an essential segue into the genre and an antidote to life’s everyday stresses. Start with super-smooth tracks ‘Staying There’ and ‘Soulful’; you’ll feel the stirrings of tranquillity, nostalgia, wanderlust… and everything in between.

If you like this, you might like…

NUJABES: The ‘father of chill-hop’, the late Jun Seba’s music is compulsory listening. Modal Soul. Hydeout Productions

BIROCRATIC: In his own words: “Hi-fi, hypercolour grooves made in a bedroom in Brooklyn”. Beets 4. Birocratic

FKJ: French Kiwi Juice is a popular multi-instrumentalist from Tours. French Kiwi Juice. Roche Musique

Read more articles in the On Écoute series:
Justice
Stuck in the Sound
Oliva Ruiz
Indochine

From France Today Magazine