Madeon - Adventure [Review]

Ever since Hugo Pierre Leclercq (Madeon) blew up on the mainstream scene back in early 2012, the French DJ/producer has reached feats that artists 20 years his senior have yet to accomplish. By the time he was 18, he had already headlined several of the world’s biggest music festivals, including Coachella and Lollapalooza, had been featured on Pete Tong’s prestigious BBC Radio 1, and had various tracks reach the top of world dance music charts. The public was amazed that such a young artist could produce such striking beats, catchy melodies, and heart-heavy synths.

It came as no surprise that, when Madeon announced last year that a debut album was in the works, members of the EDM community and beyond would be waiting with much anticipation.

On March 24^th, Madeon made his debut album, Adventure, available for live streaming on iTunes. This was a tease for fans that didn’t want to wait another week for the album to drop. Finally, the album is available for downloading today.

Adventure feels very much like the person who created it: young and full of life. In a time where the EDM industry is being plagued with the “Big Room Blues,” a term used to describe the genre of house music associated with lacking real creativity, many artists are attempting to overstep these boundaries. Porter Robinson demonstrated this with his highly unique 2014 release, Worlds, and it appears that Madeon is taking the same approach.

Adventure is a clear depiction of Madeon’s ability to lead with innovation. Full of bright melodies, Madeon’s album has a strong feeling of synth pop similar to the music put out by the highly acclaimed synth pop group, Passion Pit. And it only makes sense to mention them, considering that the lead single off of Adventure, “Pay No Mind,” features Passion Pit themselves. The combination of huge breakdowns, catchy synths, and a dominant chorus led by vocalist Michael Angelakos.

Another single off the album, “Imperium”, is such a powerful track that it landed itself on the soundtrack of FIFA 15. “You’re On”, featuring singer Kyan, has such a dreamy feel to it that Madeon himself describes it as, “Inspired by my love of pop music, cool chords and chopped up diva vocals.”

Without a doubt, the biggest achievement featured on this album is his highly inspiring track, “Home”. The track was created during a 24-hour period where the French producer locked himself in the studio to focus on nothing but his music. As described by the artist himself, by the 17^th hour, he was suffering from sleep deprivation, hunger, and a lack of flow of creativity. He decided to bring out a microphone and try to sing himself. By the end, he had created his first ever track featuring original vocals, and the music accompanying it is bright stadium pop that almost makes you want to weep.

Overall, Adventure is quite a success for a debut album. Striving to defeat the stereotypes of electronic music while sticking to his unique style of utilizing dreamy lyrics and bright melodies, Madeon has produced a set of music bound to land on summer playlists to come.