ACO
Mask

THE REVIEW

Another Transformation.

Three years have passed since ACO released her album Irony, years during which she lived in Berlin and collaborated with various artists. Naming her new, brief mini-album "Mask" has its explanation: ACO once again changes musical direction by donning indeed a new "mask." There is no trace of the minimal and refined electronica of "Irony," nor of the quirky dub of "Material," and not even the "Bristolian" trip hop of "Absolute Ego."

The collaborators are varied and talented: the geniuses of Japanese electronica Aoki Takamasa and Taeji Sawai, KJ from the hip-hop group Dragon Ash, the musical alchemist Yoshinori Sunahara, and finally the French DAT politics. This makes the album a mini collection of tracks each different from the other. It opens with "ya-yo!" with Jpop influences akin to YUKI, continues with "Guilty," with a distinct R&B flavor, reaches the cover "i know what boys like" seasoned with electronic sounds in a Coco Rosie style, proceeds with "rikunoritou" sweet electro-symphonic ballad, the recent style of Goldfrapp peeks through in "cover grrrl" and concludes with the unrecognizable self-cover "fuan nano" which with a sharp electronic rhythm reminds us of William Orbit and Mirwais.

In short, a small collection for all tastes that serves as an appetizer for a future (and hopefully not too distant) full album. Will we ever discover the identity of ACO?