Psapp

Related Content

• Friday: Portishead Works Its Haunting Magic at the Greek Theatre
  October 24, 2011
• Portishead Will Play the Greek Theatre This October
  July 11, 2011
• Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music
  October 26, 2011
• Lana Del Rey's Disappeared Full-Length Debut: A First Listen
  October 25, 2011
• Five Hip-Hop Album Covers That Would Make Insanely Difficult Jigsaw Puzzles
  October 7, 2011

More About

• Galia Durant
• John Soda
• Portishead
• Electronic Music
• Relationships

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

The problem with a lot of electronic music is that it either takes itself too seriously or not seriously enough. Psapp offers the perfect solution (if also a less than perfect name): Do both. On the duo's debut CD, German producer Carim Clasmann sprinkles knickknacky sound effects, plucky violin, and whizzing bleeps over warm, elastic beats, for a euphoric sound that's like a toy closet come to life. At the same time, British chanteuse Galia Durant sings of heartbreak and disappointment with a drowsy, detached resignation. In "Curuncula" she purrs, "We have only ourselves to blame" over and over, as if trying to convince herself; in "Leaving in Coffins" she murmurs, "You go, go, and you don't come back" with heavy-hearted compliance. Such lyrics, if set within the usual trip-hop soundscapes, could sound maudlin or pretentious, but wrapped in Clasmann's whimsical music, they're soulful and bittersweet. Like a giddier Múm, a warmer Ms. John Soda, a twee-er Portishead, Psapp makes music for adults -- with a childlike glee.