'Argot' by Passepartout Duo

'Argot' marks the new full-length release from the inspiring musical combination of Nicoletta Favari and Christopher Salvito under the moniker of Passepartout Duo.

For pianist Favari and drummer/percussionist Salvito, the task of making music has become intrinsically linked to explorations about how we hear and process sounds.  Having now amassed an impressive array of electro-acoustic and free jazz-inspired projects, each Passepartout Duo release to date has become specifically tailored towards addressing that very concept.

And in what will go on to ultimately define the efforts of the Passepartout Duo, their experimentations occur via a range of ways and means including the use of both manipulated or newly-constructed instruments like the discarded metal and wood that was used to form the core basis of their album 'Vis​-​à​-​Vis' in 2020 or the significantly more advanced Chromaplane that the two invented in collaboration with synthesizer manufacturer, KOMA Elektronik.

Further to this, their musical quest has taken them across the world having graced stages and collaborated with local musicians in Japan, Italy, Peru, the US and China amidst an epic variety of additional lands and cultures.  It's a model that harks all the way back to Favari & Salvito's scintillating four-track debut EP, 'Ólafsfj​ö​r​ð​ur', which was subsequently named after the village they stayed in for nine weeks in Iceland where the project was created.

It's a staggering level of commitment and one that elevates the status of each project to exalted levels of imagination and inspiration.  Each project invariably becomes a compulsory and enthralling document all of its own; a puzzle piece as crucial to Passepartout Duo's over-arching mosaic as the project that preceded it and the one that will find life because of it.

The release of 'Argot' sees the Passepartout Duo once again further their scope of ambition by establishing a project that seeks to explore "how we communicate and collaborate with electronic devices".  Even considering this as a theme outside of the realm of music is fascinating in light of the burgeoning prominence of AI in our everyday lives; the ability to have software generate a song within seconds is perhaps something worthy of condemnation music enthusiasts but Favari & Salvito seek to tackle the situation through more inspired ways instead opting to ask how our place amidst it all changes.  

Looking past any fear or dread that we may have, the more constructive approach is almost to acknowledge the potential changes that lay ahead and to consider how we can best create harmony amidst all of these factors accepting our place within them all.  These discussions continue across the album's nine tracks with Passepartout embracing a synthesizer-inspired, electronic aesthetic presented beautifully alongside analog instrumentation.

'Argot' serves as a triumph within the gloriously evolving Passepartout Duo's catalogue and while Favari & Salvito will continue their experiments for future projects amidst a variety of alternate settings, collaborators and contexts, 'Argot' will be long-regarded as a compulsory instalment and one that will define their unparalleled vision for some time to come.