Immediately comparable are J. Papaconstantino and the artist known as Chaton: they both emit Auto-Tuned relationship woes, but while Chaton favours the dub-reggae medium, Papaconstantino attaches his texts to a Greco-tronic hybridization. Johan, a young Marseilles resident with a Greek father, handles the bouzouki very well; if he quotes Markos Vamvakaris, pioneer of rebetiko, in his influences, it is no accident. The singing is nonchalant, the rhythms bewitching, sometimes lascivious, as on “Tsiftetelix”, where Papaconstantino is inspired by tsifteli, Greek bellydancing music. In short, Contre-jour enlightens us head-on.
