Theodora ft. Jul – Zou Bisou

Next, we fly to France for this pick from Daisy Letourneur.

[Video]
[6.33]Will Adams: Bouncy and confident, “Zou Bisou” updates a ’60s pop nugget with braggadocio and references to Kurt Cobain and Billie Jean.
[6]

Ian Mathers: Yeah, I think this has pretty comprehensively replaced the ’60s (or faux-’60s) versions in my head, since the chorus is all I remember from that anyway. Here it’s more energetic anyway, and the rest of the time the jumpy vocal/percussive rhythms has me shoulderdancing at my desk.
[7]

Julian Axelrod: If Jessica Draper had performed this at Don’s birthday party instead of that Sophia Loren song, maybe those crazy kids would have made it after all. (Or Jessica would have ended up getting with Joan, which probably would have worked out better for everyone involved.)
[7]

Nortey Dowuona: Repetition in the verse is a tone any rapper can use, but they have to repeat a phrase or word that feels good to say on the ear. Think “shells” or maybe “who? when? where?”. Sometimes the better feel is repeating the same tone of rhyme such as focaccia/akasha/mahatma/mufasa or even climbs/time/blind/fine. It’s a common way to structure and build energy or show craft and imagination, it’s widespread, so when Jul takes to it on his guest verse on “Zou Bisou,” I think, “Huh. It doesn’t work.” He halts his flow to repeat “J’deviens fou, fou, fou, fou”, which lands so flat on the ear his limp singing can’t flip up a countermelody, nor can it lean on the next four lines which all end with fou/jou/belle/affronte. Thus he deflates his momentum and zaps energy from his verse, and the craft only comes across in the construction of his last two bars, leaving an awkward, unexciting gap for Theodra to fill with her pre chorus. Sometimes, better not to repeat but construct from one side to another.
[6]

Claire Davidson: “Zou Bisou” is rarely boring: both Theodora and Jul bring the irrepressible energy needed to keep pace with a beat this unrelenting, and the song’s regional touches (is that an accordion I hear?) add a manic bit of fun to its full-throttle clip. Yet that momentum seems to be both the track’s greatest strength and its most pressing weakness, as the hook simply replicates the frantic stomp of the verses with more force, as Theodora’s multitracked vocals provide the only real differentiating mark between the two segments, save for a pre-chorus where Theodora adopts an ill-advised falsetto. It’s a fun track, but one whose joy feels ephemeral, never truly brash enough to leave a mark beyond its momentary exuberance.
[7]

Alfred Soto: Pleasant. In its acoustic form I can imagine it blasting in a town in central France.
[5]