This is refreshing. Frànçois and The Atlas Mountains' E Volo Love is an exuberant fusion of styles and languages – and one that actually works!

Among the bouquet of aromas and influences that spring from this album, there is a quality and creativity of song-writing that is reminiscent of Serge Gainsbourg. African drums and guitar – think Ali Farka Touré and Malian duo Amadou and Miriam – meet the indie warmth of Real Estate.

The UK-based group is the brainchild of Frenchman Frànçois Marry. The album’s title is the mirrored palindrome of love-o-love, a similar wordplay to the recent release of Camille's Ilo veyou .

Wordplay is part and parcel of the enigmatic explorations of the album. In "Bail Eternal" Guy Debord’s famous Latin palindrome is employed – ‘In Girum Imus Nocte Et Consumimur Igni’ (we spin ourselves around, through the night and we consume ourselves with fire).

The first single “Piscine” is a delightfully nostalgic French pop tune. A keys-driven melody builds with tonal drumming and a deliciously dirty synth twist. Even for those without the langue français, this is a memorable toe-tapper and a strong introduction to an impressive album.

“Les Plus Beaux” follows suit, jovial African drumming sets the mood for the reverberating, melodious guitar work that follows and a harmony-driven chorus.

The tom-driven drums of “Muddy Heart”, and the bilingual “City Kiss”, moves us into more traditional English indie territory of the likes of Real Estate. While talented French chanteuse Françoiz Breut joins Frànçois on the sweet ballad “Cherchant Des Ponts”.

The group is the first French artist to be signed with British indie label Domino. To their credit, the label didn’t cage Frànçois’ creativity in a studio; instead, the album was recorded in an old wooden dance hall in the songwriters hometown in France.

Frànçois And The Atlas Mountains have created something new, bridging the worlds of the weird and the wonderful. Perhaps just as impressively, there is still a healthy dose of solid and seamless indie to reach mainstream audiences.

Review Score: 8.5 out of 10