E Volo Love

From Paris but Bristol-based since 2006, Frànçois Marry’s fourth album is an agreeable blend of stereotypes, Gallic jazz-pop mingling with provincial British jangle-rock. He sings in both English and French but, regardless of the patois, the sensibility is unchanging as one mid-tempo rocker bleeds pleasantly, if less than urgently, into the next. An occasional whiff of Afro-pop suggests he’s been paying close attention to Vampire Weekend; elsewhere there’s are vestiges of Field Mice-style ‘80s moochery. It’s all quite lovely, but lacks the otherwordliness of the best French rock and the put-’em-under-pressure stomp of English guitar music. What you are left with is a record so understated you may find you’ve forgotten about it while you’re still listening.