Zerolex is a producer from Besançon, France. He first come to prominence as part of the production quartet known as Cotton Claw. In 2017, he released his debut solo album, M.I.L.D., which then evolved into the Zerolex Trio, which featured Claudio Ibarra on double bass and Chromé on saxophone. They released a couple of singles in the last couple of years, but now, at least for the time being, the trio has become a duo with just Zerolex and Chromé, now rebranded as Matsusake. They now present their first full-length album as a duo, 1538.

This album is part of a larger project where Matsusake have collaborated with French ethnologists Noël Barbe and Aurélie Dumain under the impulse of the Echo System concert hall. There is an accompanying book to the overall project, which is available from La Clé à Molette publishing company. The underlying theme to all of this is “making materials sing.” The good news here is that if you’re listening to the music, you can go either way and still enjoy the album. You can do a deep dive and read the book and consider how the music reflects the theme as you’re listening along, and it can be very rewarding and open up the possibilities of the project. However, if you’re just looking for some dope experimental electronic jazz music, you can just listen to the album as is and still appreciate it on a very deep level. That’s because Zerolex has been laying down some of the most ambitious and creative experimental electronic music for a minute, and the setup with this project pairs him with a creative partner in Chromé who helps him to take that base and then adds this level of jazz and classical composition that gives the whole album this feeling of grandeur. Rounding out the album, we get contributions from Anthony Pergaud on bass, Paul L’Hôte on drums, and vocals from Coline Maigrot, Jérémy Vieille, Chloé Zurbach, Émilie Vieille, Simon Saint-Hillier, and Joséphine Mermet. It’s an album that is always building and on the move, with a lot of unexpected twists and turns, but it also knows when to sit on a groove, or when to let a moment land and give it some space to breathe. It’s very complex and the duo certainly carve out their own musical path on this album, but they also manage to make the whole thing approachable and accessible, which is no easy feat. It’s an album that needs to be listened to all the way through, so you can really appreciate how one track builds on the next and creates this overall sound that is greater than the sum of its parts.

1538 is not your typical album for whatever genre you want to approach it from. Matsusake have thrown the rule book out the window with their compositions, bringing together classical, jazz, ambient, post rock, hip hop, and experimental electronic music and crafted a sound that is entirely their own. It’s a big musical statement that takes you on quite the adventure from start to finish.