by
Juno Daily
on 12.05.2025 at 12:29pm.
Last edited: 12.05.2025 at 12:43pm.
Giving it the hard Cell
Simo Cell returns with four new tracks of party smashing daft funk and banging house, the ‘FL Louis’ EP, out June 20.
“I see it as what French Touch could sound like in 2025,” he told Juno Daily, “Back then, the sound was naturally gritty – not just an aesthetic choice, but also a result of people playing low-quality MP3s ripped from blogs. But now, it’s a deliberate approach, with controlled distortions and crazy sound design elements.”
“Though I’m strongly tied to the UK scene, I’m not a ‘bass’ artist, and I’ve recently felt a need to reconnect with my teenage musical roots. Classic French dance music shaped my childhood, as it did for many millennials, and I’ve been weaving more of it into my DJ sets. In the studio, I’ve been exploring minimalism, building tracks with just a few elements for a stripped-down feel. It’s rooted in the rough, abrasive textures of French artists’ contribution to the Bloghouse era, and the robotic, funky ideas of the first wave of French Touch, but blending it with modern rhythms. I see it as what those scenes could sound like in 2025. This project is my way of carrying the legacy forward, and hopefully I do it justice.”
For this new phase, Simo introduces the world to a new friend; a guttural, croaking mechanoid creature know as FL Louis, who delivers what can very loosely be described as vocals (think Cookie Monster armed with a vocoder, strep throat, and a bottle of poppers).
On their first meeting, Simo recounts, “I never force a direction – the music shapes itself, and over time, a distinct aesthetic emerged, with electro funk voices evoking a trippy, psychedelic creature. From these sounds emerged FL Louis – an android, formant-heavy voice that’s more than just a sound – it’s a character, and a real puppet, embodying the voice of this music. FL Louis’ journey will unfold through video clips, inspired by the raw creativity of 2000s era music videos, and reaching further back too, to Charles the Dog and Flat Eric. After all, the late 90s and early 2000s weren’t just about music – they were also a golden era of iconic visuals, creatures, and mascots.”
The unhinged undulating robocroak and thwacking toms of ‘Circuits’ kicks off – adding a soupçon of Jerzey drums and Relief-era Chicago to the French cuisine – followed in equally charged fashion with the bouncy, high voltage, almost-grime-like machine funk and squashed squelchy voice of ‘Rushin’. A sideways take on the housier, groovier end of the spectrum is ‘Paris Funk Express’, where g-funk meets Mitsubishis, still featuring Simo’s cyborg critter, this time hyping the crowd with unintelligible munchkin madness. Ending proceedings on a slightly different note is the neck-breaking boom bap slap and sharp 909 riffs of ‘Oh No’ – Simo’s direct response to the classic Homework track ‘Oh Yeah’, revamping it in a trap meets ghetto tech stylee.
Track-list
Circuits
Rushin’
Paris Funk Express
Oh No!
Live & DJ dates:
May 9th – Cryst4l Visi0ns, Atlanta (DJ)
May 10th – Podlasie, Chicago (DJ)
May 16th – Lulo, Nashville (DJ)
May 17th – Nowadays, New York (live)
May 22th – Askip, Nantes (DJ)
May 29th – Nuits Sonores, Lyon (live with Abdullah Miniawy)
May 30th – Panke Gallery, Berlin (DJ)
Jun 6th – Privamera Festival (live)
June 20th – Solstice Festival, Kuusamo (B2B CCL) (DJ)
June 27th – Les siestes électroniques, Toulouse (live)
Jul 11th – Atelier Bitch, Nantes (DJ)
Jul 12th – Cassius Club @ Francofolies, La Rochelle (DJ)
Jul 26th – Polifonic Festival, Valle D’itria (DJ)
Jul 31st – Dekmantel (live with Abdullah Miniawy)
Pre-order your vinyl copy of the ‘FL Louis’ EP, expected on June 20, by clicking here
Pic: Hotel Reine
