Chill waves of smooth synth, punching bass and catchy lyrics are coming your way this Thursday when up-and-coming electronic music duo Louis the Child performs at The Blue Note.
Composed of Robert Hauldren and Frederic Kennett, the Chicago-based duo has had a light-speed launch into the electronic music scene since the release of “It’s Strange” in 2015.
Two years later, and Louis the Child has opened for The Chainsmokers and Madeon and performed at festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza and Electric Forest. Big upcoming festival appearances are set for Hangout Music Festival and Bonnaroo this year. This duo isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Louis the Child’s music draws influence from electronic artists like Flume, Madeon and Odesza. Within the genre of EDM, the duo would fall into a subgenre called future bass, a style that has been pioneered by Flume.
Future bass is characterized by rhythmic synthesizer modulation, relying more on the rapid articulation of complex chord progressions than percussion to set the pace and drive of a song. Their single “It’s Strange” is a prime example of this style. Their remixes also rely heavily on the techniques used in future bass.
If you haven’t heard of the group, give its music a listen before the concert, and be prepared to sing along to their singles “Love Is Alive,” “Fire” and “Weekend.” With feel-good melodies that are almost impossible not to dance to, these songs have more pop appeal with catchy, singalong lyrics that have real anthem potential.
“Love is Alive,” features electro-pop singer Elohim who “just [wants to] go where love is alive.” It’s a repetitive but catchy song with a solid bassline that carries Elohim’s airy voice along through frequency shifts and interesting percussive patterns to produce a surreal soundscape that’s sure to create a magnetic live atmosphere Thursday night.
Their single “Fire” features the lyrics of the soul-pop artist Evalyn. She begins each verse with quick phrases, building energy in her voice. The lyrics of freedom and reckless independence develop into the chorus, where her passion becomes a fire she builds until the last lyric, “And if I go down in flames, the smoke gonna spell my name,” followed by a powerful drop into future bass synth waves and an uplifting melody.
Louis the Child and Swedish duo Icona Pop teamed up to produce the song “Weekend.” Out of the three mentioned singles, this one has the biggest pop influence. It follows the common theme of confusion following a weekend of partying, and it mostly features lyrics by Icona Pop with interludes of future bass solos by Louis the Child. It’s a song with the kind of catchy chorus and happy melody that you may find yourself humming days after the concert.
Louis the Child has yet to release a full-length album. Other than an EP, _Dimensions_, in 2013 that featured heavy synth and house-style tracks, the group has only dropped five singles and produced a handful of remixes. The duo has an EP of six songs, _Love is Alive_, set to debut March 24 and an album in the works.
[In a November 2016 interview, Kennett told the Chicago Tribune](http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-louis-the-child-ott-1125-20161121-story.html) that the duo has “hundreds of songs” stockpiled and ready for release, so it sounds as though Louis the Child is going to be sticking around the electronic music scene for some time to come.
The concert starts at 9 p.m. Thursday at The Blue Note. Tickets are sold out locally, but there are still a few available on [StubHub.](https://www.stubhub.com/louis-the-child-tickets/performer/1507054/)
