The video for “Strange Breathin’” is faithful to Gystere’s retro-kitsch Z-series universe, and signals the release of his first album A Little Story: 10 psych-funk episodes carrying anti-racist and anti-sexist messages.
With an Afro-futurist theme that evokes the voodoo jazz-funk of the 70’s as much as the anti-racist and anti-sexist activism of our time, Gystere (aka Adrien Peskine) composes a subtle groove containing a whole world of references: Z series, SF pastiche, denunciation of police harassment, hand-made ships and spaceships, etc. In his cosmic clip that he made with his brother, we find everything that characterizes the project’s universe. The video inaugurates the adventures of Jane Dark, an Afro-feminist heroine who fights against the dominant oppression — a playful way of approaching the minority struggles that agitate Gystere’s texts. The artist draws on his experiences to denounce the police racism he has experienced since his youth, and shows solidarity with the feminist struggle that shares the same objective: to defend the oppressed. “For me it’s common sense, guys have to talk to guys about these issues. It’s my way of being part of this problem, of making a kind of self-criticism, of managing to deprogram this macho culture in which we live.”
Adrien Peskine has also opened for Stromae and Saul Williams. A video director, composer, pianist for Cerrone, this all-round artist also has a talent for painting and his canvases reflect the colorful pop fever that inhabits his music.
After the Womxn/Time Machine EP last June, this exquisite corpse hides an irresistible, fantastic universe that brings us comfort, as well as some real hits.
“A Little Story” will be released on November 20 via Sodadound.
Listen to Gystere in our playlist Songs of the Week on Spotify and Deezer.
