Cyesm is a French musician who has been releasing records for over two decades now. In that time, he’s worked a wide variety of artists and covered everything from classical to jazz to hip hop to electronic music. His most recent project came out in May of this year, New Worlds. Now he’s back with a new project, Beat Baker.

One of the fun things about following Cyesm’s career is that you never know which direction he might go in for each project. If you scan over his last four or five releases, you’ll come across some pretty conceptual and heady projects with some substantial stories behind the music. That’s why it’s especially fun to listen to Beat Baker. Not that there’s anything wrong with these other recent projects – in fact, they are quite remarkable – but sometimes you just need something fun to listen to, and that’s exactly what Beat Baker is. Cyesm is just getting back to basics and throwing down some break beats, some keyboard funk, and just letting loose in a way that he hasn’t in a few years. So not only is this project a funky good time full of great grooves, it also captures this energy of someone reminding themselves how fun some good old fashioned funk can be. It’s the type of album that you can just drop the needle anywhere and land on some great drum breaks and groovy bass lines that will get your feet tapping and head bobbing.

Beat Baker is simple and straightforward in all the best ways. Cyesm is an incredible accomplished musician who can create complex music in a variety of styles, but there’s just something about throwing that all out the window and just getting down to the funk that is just undeniable when it’s done right. The good news is that Cyesm has really done it up right with this album.