Paradis (duo)

Paradis was a French electronic music duo consisting of Simon Mény and Pierre Rousseau. The duo was latest signed to Universal label Maison Barclay.[1] They grew to fame after releasing their first 12" single on Beats In Space titled Parfait Tirage featuring a cover of Alain Souchon's "La Ballade de Jim". The duo have appeared on the French DJ scene with sets at Nuits Sonores and Rex Club.

Paradis
Background information
Origin	France
Genres	House, pop
Years active	2011 (2011)–2017
Labels	Beats in Space, Barclay
Members	Simon Mény Pierre Rousseau

Early years

Simon Mény and Pierre Rousseau met through friends in Paris. After realising that they had two quite different backgrounds in terms of music, they found themselves creating pieces which combine French pop with the contemporary textures of dance music.

Career

2011–13: Signing, soundtrack and work with APC

Paradis were first discovered by DJ Tim Sweeney after submitting demos to the Beats in Space radio show hoping for airplay. Sweeney eventually decided to sign the duo for the first release of his then-newly established label Beats in Space. Paradis have appeared on many mixes, some for contemporary fashion labels such as Etudes Studio and for popular music sites such as White Light Mixes.

In 2012 Paradis made the soundtrack for Sacha Barbin's short film Mes Amours Décomposé(e)s. In September of that year, Paradis collaborated with APC releasing a T-shirt as part of an APC wide collaboration with various artists. The T-shirt features a small print bird widely used by the duo as a mark of their brand alongside a print with blue accents.

2014: "Garde le pour toi"

In anticipation of their debut album, in June 2014 Paradis released a first single entitled "Garde Le Pour Toi" via Universal label Riviera/Barclay. The song is a merge of French pop and soft house vibes with a touch of French vocals.[2] The second single release entitled "Sur Une Chanson En Français" was released in November.

2015: Couleurs Primaires EP

Couleurs Primaires, an EP containing three original songs was released on January 19, 2015. The EP has three main songs each uniquely attributed to a primary colour, hence the name "Couleurs Primaires" in French meaning primary colours in English. Paradis have adopted new sounds incorporating heavy elements of pop, techno and house music. Although the duo explains that finding a genre to describe their music poses a certain difficulty, the album itself is based heavily on expression and the sound that comes about by mistake. The album is then complemented by two other remix tracks composed by Tim Goldsworthy and Superpitcher. Although each track on the EP is unique, it still retains the elements of contemporary house in each of the tracks. "Primary Colours" is based on the first three tracks of their studio album, which was planned to be released in April 2016 but pushed back to September 2016.

2016: Recto verso

Paradis left Paris for the south of France in 2013 to work on their first album. It was originally set for sometime in spring 2015 but the release date was pushed back to give the record time to mature. The album is the first recorded by the duo and will be their second release after their new EP with French label Barclay. The album, titled Recto Verso, was released in September 2016. The album retains Paradis' core elements, merging pop music with the textures of contemporary dance music whilst adding their own melodies and synths to each track. The album contains 12 tracks. The duo confirmed that there are no collaborative appearances on the record, however the recording and mastering stages of production were aided by Julien Delfaud and Antoine Chabert affiliated with Daft Punk.[3]

Music

The duo merge traditional French pop and contemporary house.[4] The Duo disbanded in 2017 in order to pursue other musical projects.

Discography

Albums and EPs

Release	Year	Peak chart positions	Label
		FRA [5]
Parfait Tirage	2011	—	Beats in Space
Hémisphère	2012	—
Couleurs Primaires	2015	184	Barclay
Recto Verso	2016	30 [6]

Singles

Single	Year	Peak chart positions	Label
		FRA [5]
"Garde Le Pour Toi"	2014	—	Barclay
"Sur une chanson en français"		—
"Toi et moi"	2016	66 [7]

Remixes

Paradis have featured on many 12" releases. In 2012 they remixed a song by Jacques Renault titled "Back To You" which gained popularity in the house scene. The duo have also released two other remixes of songs by Agoria and Cale Parks. In 2015 the duo remixed a song by French revelation Christine and the Queens titled "Christine". Paradis covered a popular Alain Chamfort song titled 'Rendez Vous Au Paradis' which featured on a tribute compilation of some of Chamfort's best songs released on January 22, 2016.[8]

Jacques Renault	"Back to You (Paradis Remix)	2013	Let's Play House
Agoria featuring Scalde	"For One Hour" (Paradis Remix)		Rebirth
Cale Parks	"N1" (Paradis Contours Remix)		Have a Killer Time
Christine and the Queens	"Christine" (Paradis Remix)	2015	Because
Alain Chamfort	"Paradis" (Paradis Reprise)	2016
Flavien Berger	"Trésor" (Paradis Shuffle Mix)		Pan European

References

1. "Paradis - BIS Records 001". Beats in Space. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
2. Bardot, Patrice (15 July 2014). "Clip : Paradis - "Garde Le Pour Toi"". tsugi (in French). Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
3. http://www.lesinrocks.com/2015/12/09/musique/interview-de-paradis-11792384/
4. "RA: Paradis". Residentadvisor.net. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
5. "lescharts.com - Discography Paradis". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
6. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 39, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
7. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés - SNEP (Week 39, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-16. Retrieved 2016-01-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)