Kids Return is first and foremost a great story of friendship between Adrien Rozé and Clément Savoye since childhood. It was in Paris, at the age of 13, that the two musicians met. Like the Japanese director Takeshi Kitano’s film from which it takes its name, the French duo’s project speaks to us of the depth contained in the false naivety of childhood, and the evocative power of nostalgia when it blurs the line between joy and sadness.

The sound of Kids Return lies somewhere between the Californian pop of the Mamas and the Papas, the orchestrations of Vladimir Cosma and the modesty of Joe Hisaishi’s soundtracks. It draws on the energy of Blur and the vocal harmonies of MGMT, while revisiting these Anglo-Saxon influences with the precision and delicacy of the arrangements of a band like Air. The result is a romantic and melancholic melody, a laboratory of emotions that can be thought of in images.