In 2015, Parisian indie duo Papooz (Armand Penicaut and Ulysse Cottin, who are childhood friends) appeared on the scene with their brand of tropical-hued French indie pop, brimming with energy while containing soothing melodies and rhythms. By drawing on France's jazz heritage and gypsy jazz guitar styling, Penicaut and Cottin create a certain atmosphere of whimsy, bathing the listener with a sense of the French 'spirit': "a certain way of being, somewhere between the Italian dolce vita and the Greek skepticism" ().
"Ann Wants to Dance", the first track from their debut album Green Juice (2016), is their best known song. Against mellow, sun-kissed beats, Cottin's relatively androgynous vocals paint a lively character sketch underscored by playful eroticism:
'Ann wants to danceShe scares them allShe’s far too prettyFor that dancing hallIt shook the stageA cannonballDave almost fellBut she took the fallFor himFor himAnn wants to danceI do recallHer freckled faceGlowing down the hallBetween her legsA waterfallAnn wants to yellShe can only moanFor himFor him'
Lyrics: Genius
The accompanying lo-fi music video fits the song's quirky irreverence perfectly. Shot in Greece by Soko, it features the duo and statuesque model Sasha Melnychuk frolicking by the beach and a hotel resort in the company of various oddities: animal-patterned bikinis, a gummy hamburger served on a plate, a T-shirt with states 'Undress me now', a mock-suicide via TicTacs, and cocktail-shaped glasses.
