Paris-based electro-acoustic duo Paradoxe blends competing musical backgrounds in their debut album.

On Dec. 15, Paradoxe, a Paris-based duo, will release its debut electro-acoustic album featuring tracks of interwoven minimalist melodic cells and sonorous rhythms over a background of finely textured sound art. Paradoxe blends these meticulously layered intricacies with an ethereal balance. The eponymously titled album demonstrates great inventiveness and imagination.

Paradoxe - all photos courtesy of Arpaviva Recordings

The seven-track album displays two adept composers' competing musical backgrounds. Marc Parazon, a sound artist and sound engineer, is known for his sound creation and art installations. Romain Beauchef is a classically trained pianist whose performances span repertoires from baroque to contemporary music.

The atmospheric album moves with an additive and subtractive flow, which includes spoken segments in multiple languages.

The first track, "Adama," introduces a Reich-esque minimalism that evolves into luminous electronic layers with irregular rhythms and forward-moving harmonies.

Tracks like "Aravo" evoke the resplendent ambiance of grand European churches, while "Jazz-Non-Jazz" juxtaposes lo-fi jazz elements with frenetic noise distortions reminiscent of the Boredoms.

"Nopo" takes the album into a new sonic territory, merging unsettling rhythms with soft organ tones.

The album's penultimate and most experimental track, "Origin," begins and ends with a spoken segment by Angela Davis against a backdrop of shifting sound art.

"T-Carre," the cyclical final track, revisits the opening repetitive melodic patterns, reflecting the album's thematic continuity.

The album appears on the Arpaviva Recordings label, in keeping with its focus on categorically indefinable music.