Every now and again you stumble across a musical gem, that once you've heard you never will forget. About two years ago I heard a song on late night MTV2, a song which since that day I have been able to remember vividly, yet until a couple of days ago I didn't know what it was. I could remember the cutesy animated video and the unforgettable chorus, but did I know who wrote that little piece of magic?
No, of course I didn't.
Plastic Operator are a two piece international electronic pop outfit, with one half from Antwerp and the other from Montreal. How did they meet? In London whilst studying audio production of course. After hitting it off, realising they both had a shared love for well written pop music, the duo began to make their own blend of bittersweet electronic pop music; music which is sure to leave you feeling both melancholic and uplifted simultaneously. Okay: try to imagine the Knife if all they listened to was the Postal Service and the Pet Shop Boys... they are somewhere in that region. Seriously, the stuff they produce is amazing.
Anyway, I digress slightly. On hearing the band's self produced debut Different Places I was stunned into silence when the third track kicked in and I realised this was the song I had been looking for. Call off the search! That tune that had managed to evade me for so long finally had a name, 'Folder'. It was P.O's first single back in 2005 and was well received by much of the music press, and now two years later it was blasting from my stereo. It's so catchy, vocalist Pieter Van Dessel's distinctive voice flowing over a sea of electronic keys and synthetic drums, seemingly sad with its strains of string and blipping synths. It's pop perfection. Plain and simple.
It's the kind of song you would want to fall in love to.
Why not fall in love with it too?
Plastic Operator's debut album Different Places is available now on Fine Day.
mp3: Plastic Operator - Folder
