Nothing Gold (Deluxe Edition)

The tracks on Joakim Bouaziz’s fifth studio album find the Parisian producer musing on middle age; he sings simple lyrics of bittersweet memories over analog disco of the downtempo variety. Organic wooden rhythms get slightly tribal on the following “Fight Club,” where icy '80s synths rub against the grain and Joakim reminds his critics that their pointed jabs are an exercise in futility. Exhausted-sounding Moogs introduce the sleepy title track, playing as though somebody let the air out of Hot Butter’s 1972 electronic instrumental cover of Gershon Kingsley’s “Popcorn.” This dissolves into a dynamic layering of robotic beats, piano, and demure vocal harmonies with lovelorn lyrics. (Check out the retro analog synthesizer solo toward the end.) “Wrong Blood” recalls the subtly gloomy electro-pop of the early '80s. “Piano Magic” makes good on its title, with instrumental ivories tickled over Moog drones and slow beats.