It’s been 12 years since (Polo) and (Pan) first crossed paths at Le Baron, the Parisian bar at which the two Frenchmen would regularly perform DJ sets during the early stages of their careers. Today, the duo now known to the world as have released their third full length LP ‘22:22’. They catch up with CLASH via video call during a much needed resting period. The pair, who have accumulated over two billion streams globally, have just got back from a well-received first leg of their European voyage, having packed out virtually every venue they’ve played, including London’s Roundhouse.

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“We have to admit, we are proud of ourselves.” says Pan with a big smile on his face. “It’s been really surprising because we’ve only got a couple of new songs, and it’s been a long time since we released an album. We’ve somehow managed to sell out concerts all over Europe and France, and we’re doing Coachella.” Building on this, Polo says “We’ve definitely upgraded the show since the last tour, and for the first time ever we’re able to move around the booth. We used to just be standing in the same place the whole time, whereas now we’re able to move around a lot more.” He continues, “It’s a new way for us to see each other when we’re performing. We do a face to face thing where it feels almost like a duel, so It’s a novel experience for us as well as the fans.”

The visual aspect of the performance sees the pair dressed all in white as they traverse around a vast, illuminated control pad, which resembles something out of an 80s sci-fi film. An immersive yet minimalist sequence of colourful 2D shapes is displayed on the transparent L.E.D screens behind them, allowing the audience to simultaneously take in the venue’s physical features. This concept is the product of visual artists and , who have worked alongside the group for a long time, and have designed all of their album art to date. “We have a great team that helps us build the live experience. We obviously work very closely with them, but we also leave them a lot of creative space to come up with ideas and see what works and what doesn’t.” Says Polo, “Since the beginning they’ve helped build the aesthetics that work well with our sound, so we’ve built up a good creative relationship with them.”

The ‘22:22’ era not only sees a shift in the duo’s approach to live performances, but also to their in-studio creative methods. Detailing this, Polo states “With ‘Caravalle’ (2017) we wrote a whole storyboard and really tried to block it all out. We even wrote 12 paragraphs and decided in advance that the album was gonna be 12 songs, but with this album, instead of talking about the songs we just went ahead and made them.” He expands, “We stacked up all our new machines in this big analogue studio and connected them all at the same time so that we could play everything. It’s quite unusual for a band to go from being more conceptual to less conceptual, but we thought this time we could tell the story using our hands instead of our words.”

The record’s lead single ‘Disco Nap’ features ’s whose management reached out to the duo while Metronomy were taking a break from touring, stating that the Devon-born singer was keen to work with them. The pair met Mount for a drink in Paris and they got along well, so it was decided that they would book two days of studio time together a few weeks later. The first day was spent working on a song that was eventually discarded, but on the second, within just four hours, ‘Disco Nap’ was born. “It was an honour to work with him.” Says Pan, jokingly adding “He’s a bit like a musical Arsene Wenger – always to the point!” Polo expands on this “It was a pretty fast collaboration. He’s a guy that knows exactly what he wants from a track, so it was really nice to work with someone who has that mentality.”

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Up and coming Parisian duo , who supported Polo & Pan on their recent European tour, are also featured on the album. ‘Bluetopia’ is a 90s-inspired synth-pop track containing hints of the DFA sound, while also being highly reminiscent of Air – another French duo often cited by both groups as a major sonic influence. Discussing the collaboration, Pan states “Kids Return remind me a bit of Polo and I ten years ago. I look at their humility, and the ways in which they interact with one another on a creative and professional level, and I think that they hold the key to greatness.” He expands, “I’m so proud that they belong to the same independent label as us (, ) and I’m sure they will go on to become huge stars.”

Polo agrees. “There’s a lot of respect between us. We see them studying and learning from us, and in turn we’ve also learned a lot from them. They’ve got much better musicianship than we do. They’re instrumentalists, whereas we’re producers, so our approach to the whole process is quite different to theirs. We also really liked their new album ‘1997’ and are super excited for that to come out.”

Polo explains that he came up with the track’s juxtaposing title and decided to further explore its musical meaning. “We wanted to write a song that was happy and sad at the same time, full of little contradictions. The harmonies are quite melancholic, but then the verse is quite positive.”

Pan builds on this, explaining: “We’re very inspired by classical music, and the subtle fluctuation between major and minor chords. It wasn’t an easy song to get right, and was definitely one of the most fragile on the album, so we’re very glad that the final product was successful.”

He continues, further enforcing the evolution of the group’s live act and the ways in which they’ve moved beyond the decks. “This is actually the first song I’ve been singing on stage during our tours. It’s been a challenge for me, especially because it’s also in English which is not my preferred language. But the more we play it live, the more I trust myself and my ability to do that.”

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The album’s opening track ‘The Piano & The Violin’ is in itself an ode to the beauty of escaping solitude by playing as a duet. This is an idea that’s developed throughout the entire course of the project. “The duo is the smallest format you can have for a band. A lot of musicians travel alone, and so when there’s two of you it makes the experience of travelling the world a lot more durable.”

Says Polo, “I know a lot of DJs, they have these gigs all over the world and it all looks great on paper, but it’s great to have someone else there with you.” He continues, further emphasising the choice to make this a theme on the album. “The whole record is themed around this idea of duality, which is kind of reflected in the album and track titles. ’22:22′, ‘The piano and the violin’, ‘The Mirror’, etc. Then out of this duality you get this special kind of transcendence.”

With the album out now, the duo is gearing up for one of their biggest milestones yet: renowned Outdoor Theatre next month.

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‘22:22’ is out now.

Words: Fin Harrison
Photography: Amit Israeli

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