Témé Tan Témé Tan

Témé Tan can’t shake his wanderlust, so life on tour must come in handy for quenching that thirst. The Congo-born, Belgium-based musician wrote much of this, his debut album, on his travels; thoughts and melodies collected in Peru, Japan, Norway, Guinea, Spain, Brazil and where ever else he found himself. The result is a bombastic pop album with all the vitality and adventure you’d hope for.

These eclectic indie dance songs mine from a wide pool of influences (Glass Animals and Tune-Yards must have been on his travel playlist at some point), while the songwriting stays focused and hook-oriented. The Prince-indebted swagger of ‘Menteur’ and the cosmic shuffle of ‘Coups De Griffe’ hit particularly hard. Tan coils around his instrumentals with an impressive range of eccentric vocals, from a waif-like falsetto to a talk-sung swagger, to childish chants that could be lifted straight from the first Battles album. When a melody hits its sweet spot, he could be the poster boy for getting out the house more often.