Au Suisse: “Control”

New York’s Morgan Geist (Metro Area / Storm Queen) and New Hampshire-based Kelley Polar are Au Suisse, a project borne of a long creative friendship, steeped in each member’s traditions, yet simultaneously naïve-sounding and undiscovered. Morgan’s curatorial prowess from years spent record digging and international DJing combined with Kelley’s deep exposure to five hundred years of the western classical art music tradition. Guest players include friends Dan Snaith, aka Caribou, and Junior Boys’s Jeremy Greenspan.

“We had some vague ideas—mainly visual, or perhaps psychological—about what we wanted Au Suisse to be,” says Morgan. “There was a lot of talk about moods and how to establish them, about reverbs and echoes and ‘lonely’ sounds. Ironic, considering we started working just before the onset of the pandemic. But I think a prime motivator was trying to eschew the roles we both fell into in our prior working relationship. I wouldn’t be making things more dancefloor-friendly, and Kelley wouldn’t be doing huge string arrangements.”

This goal is evident in “Control”, the pair’s debut single for City Slang. Kelley’s soft-yet-crisp vocals evoke a lonely actor in the spotlight of an empty stage, the thump of drums absent until the song’s final explosions of sound. Clocking in at five minutes, “Control” is a great ride from start to finish. We can’t wait to hear more from Au Suisse.

The single “Control” is out now via City Slang.

Pick up your copy here.