Savage Wave - Run Away (Self-published)

Duprat mentions reggae icons like Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Dennis Brown and Culture as his role models, but also got to know the European reggae scene as a keyboard player for Marcus Gad. The fact the name of Californian artist Stick Figure is mentioned, should come as no surprise either, because even though Rémy now lives in Biarritz in the French Basque country, he composed all of the songs for 'Run Away' during a road trip through Alaska, the Yukon (the most northwestern part of Canada bordering Alaska) and the Californian coast. The resulting 8 tracks (complet with a closing dub) see Duprat introduce the American West Coast reggae sound to the French West Coast.

When you're wandering around in northern regions like Alaska or the Yukon, Father Winter is always lurking around the corner, so it should come as no surprise that the winter blues is the common thread in 'Shady Time'. A lot more cheerful is 'Dance On The Moon', a light-hearted ode to the reggae genre. Things get deadly serious in 'Desolate Place', a warning about the consequences of global warming, possibly turning the planet into a lifeless wasteland, and in 'Chrome Jail', both a reference to the dominance of Google (and their Chrome internet browser) and the internet as a prevailing "prison", and the metal of the same name that's only useful as bling, Rémy takes a stand against the ever-advancing globalization: "Sad future for this globalization, be ready for the fire of sedition!".

Duprat can't hide a slight French accent, but still manages to produce an excellent debut, musically ending up somewhere between the meditative reggae of the Virgin Islands and California's more poppy alternative.