Seabass, which was released in 2014, was the first of three full-length LPs from the London-based Mcbaise.
I wish I'd found Mcbaise’s music sooner, but in reality, the timing couldn’t have worked out any better.
His two subsequent albums (Windowsill, 2017, and Tubes, 2021) are the work of a genius (look out for reviews of those albums in the future and an interview with Mcbaise later this month). I was turned on to those albums and Mcbaise in general in the last couple of years. But my more recent journey down the Mcbaise rabbit hole ensued when a mutual friend and I realized we both loved his stuff independently of each other.
Given our track records finding obscure music, we probably shouldn’t have been so surprised that we each knew about Mcbaise (and his song “Ballpit” was our theme song for an epic seaside music festival we attended in Mexico this past December). Mcbaise is definitely not as well known as he could or should be in the U.S.
We knew we were on to something, and I quickly realized that Mcbaise (Matthieu Bessudo whose illustrations are published under the name McBess) is an amazing musician, illustrator and businessman; He has his own record label (Dirty Melody Records) and retail stores (The Dudes Factory) for his art and music in London (I visited the London store in February, a few days before flying to Marseille) and Berlin. He also designed the artwork for this album, including one of the cooler record sleeves I’ve ever seen.
This is one side of the record sleeve for Seabass. Mcbaise is a noted illustrator and designed this, with coastal France and the Mediterranean as a backdrop.
But Seabass, his debut album, was harder for me to approach. I finally dug into it at the most perfect time, as I visited the Mediterranean Sea and the South of France for the first time.
Mcbaise is originally from the South of France, specifically Cannes, and his sexy, French-tinged English complements his music.
Seabass is somewhat of a figurative postcard to the region.
While the artist behind Mcbaise is in a metal band called Dead Pirates, his Mcbaise project crosses indie psychedelic rock band with jazzy, synthy grooves. He himself jokes about it being some derivative of yacht rock, and this album, for sure, makes a great case for that notion.
In general, his music is funky and mellow; It drips in satire and sex at times; It always seems to be carried away by sick bass lines, and the coolest guitar and synthesizer phrasings. His lyrics and vocal delivery are thoughtful, sensual and as much a part of the expression as the instrumentation. And yet he also loves to compose some incredibly badass instrumentals.
So there I was on the Mediterranean Sea in late February and I found myself finally digging into this album.
As the reviewer was falling under the spell of the Mediterranean, Seabass was in his ears.
I was absolutely stunned by the sea’s beauty as we took a boat ride around Calanques National Park, and Seabass was pumping in my earbuds. The songs just seemed like a tailor-made soundtrack to what I was seeing. It certainly enhanced the trance the sea had put me under.
Calanques National Park is a French national treasure.
“Hell Yacht, Le bateu à pute,” translates into “the whore boat,” if Google can be believed (I barely understand basic French). I was listening to this dope instrumental as our large tourist boat, complete with a Wookette Barbie Doll zip-tied to a post on the top deck, left the town’s harbor, lined with fishing boats and cafes. The tour explored the incredibly gorgeous, turquoise-colored little bays and lagoons, with ancient bluffs and beaches lining the shore.
Our tour boat was equipped with it’s own special edition Barbie doll.
This nearly six-minute song features a tight drum beat, organs and synths that eventually move up and down and remind you of an Atari-era arcade game. The synths speed up and build to a sick guitar solo that starts up with about a minute left in it. There’s nothing not to love here for fans of instrumentals.
The 10-track album's bookends, “At the Love Camp,” and “Love Around the Camp Fire,” are basically versions of the same song.
I try to interpret if this song is about love or sex, or both. It definitely alliterates the sea with, “Sun is ashore, that’s when we go."
It’s a mellow, funky song with so many layers and musical textures, from a twangy, mysterious guitar melody that is part of a harmony and benefits just as much from the drum beat, bass and synth. The latter version involves some acoustic guitar, but keeps up the synths, and Mcbaise’s vocals are more soulful than the former, but I love both versions.
I’m writing this on a drury early April day in Minnesota, a few days after a foot of snow dumped in the Twin Cities and is more than half melted a few days later.
But the main chorus of this song takes me back to my brief visit to the South of France.
“You have to find the silver lining,
Let me push the amp
I will be your host this evening,
Welcome to the love camp”
The title to “Auribeau’s Shore/A8 by Night,” is kind of fun, and Mcbaise adds to the mystery of this song with a brief (and I believe satirical) writeup on his album page, mentioning that he lives between London and Auribeau sur Siagne.
There’s two villages or communes that include the name Auribeau, one a tiny village called Auribeau (of 76 people, according to Google) north of Marseille, the other, Auribeau-sur-Siagne (this one population 3,600), which is closer to Cannes. They both appear picturesque and are in the South of France.
Neither are on the sea shore, and it’s not the only time Mcbaise references the sea’s edge in association with a locale that is not actually on the waterfront (the song "Caumont City Beach,” references a town in northern France that is in the region relatively near the English Channel/Atlantic Ocean, though a decent distance from the seashore.
“Been thinking about you
and all the time we spend apart,
Life here seems so easy
Could it last as long as I’m about,
There’s a tree in your garden
There’s no grass on the field,
Never been a temptation
No one dares to come here”
The back half of the track references A8, a highway in the South of France, and the album page by Mcbaise said this song “is a tribute (to) the highway that joins the beautiful Nice to Cannes the cunt. It was also written and recorded in the car on this highway. Vlan!"
This track, in its entirety is one of the best on the album, starting with a great bass line that leads a warped, psychedelic guitar riff.
There’s some Talking Heads-esque words spoken before the back of the song goes instrumental, heading down A8, figuratively.
It leads into a blown-out techno guitar fuzz that gives way back to another arcade theme, this one moving into the 80s or 90s, somewhat of a cross between Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog.
“Grand Dada is Drinking,” the third track is some sort of mellow ode to old age and drinking. It’s definitely a highlight.
There’s this great interplay between the guitar and bass guitar, one of the signatures of Mcbaise’s sound.
The chorus nails down the slinky nature of the guitar lines, sung with the perfect emotion:
“I thought I lost it,
But I found it, it was in my hands”
The rest of the album’s songs are worth listening to.
“Fully Torqued,” the second song on the album isn't for kids or for most workplaces.
You can Google the lyrics to this one, which did bring out some laughter on a recent road trip as I introduced a friend to Mcbaise. They’re definitely vulgar and may come off as sophomoric to some, though I would guess that was the intention.
And I stand by my contention that Mcbaise is a genius; I love the instrumentation on this one, even if the lyrics cross lines for some people.
The name of the album's fourth track, “Fruit Shape Penis,” suggests more NFW material, but this song is an instrumental. It features a warped guitar line that intentionally fuzzes midway through, with hints of a galactic 1980s arcade game (it’s one of three that conjure up video games, for those counting).
“The Croisette Hoes,” is a jazzy number with horns and lyrical rhymes. It’s always hard to interpret intent with art. The lyrics do seem to speak to the fact that Croisette is, as described by Tripadvisor, “a world-famout street” that runs along the shoreline of Cannes, “full of upscale shopping opportunities.”
Seabass is available on several streaming platforms, and a turquoise vinyl second pressing can also be purchased through Dirty Melody Records here. The turquoise vinyl happens to match the color of the Mediterranean.
The aforementioned "Caumont City Beach,” starts out a bit slow and bluesy, some cool organs carrying it along before horns come in and jazz up the place, though the song stays slow and gets a little funky near the end.
Lastly, I’ll mention “Where Ranguin Meets la Frayére,” this one also slow, and trailing off like a record player that’s lost power.
It’s my least favorite of the LP, and Seabass might be my least favorite LP of Mcbaise’s three, but I can safely say it will always remind me of the Mediterranean and hold a place in my heart.
The back of the 12-inch LP version of Seabass features a giant flamingo. There are pink flamingoes in the South of France. Seabass features flamingoes both in its album artwork and lyrics.