Bringing the funky, the funny, the subtly sexy and the slightly weird together in a coherent four minute song has been alternative pop music’s main concern in recent years.

With “Secret”, Boddy & Raquet provide another classy brick to a wall of fame firmly planted in the public consciousness. After a lo-fi beginning introducing the beat and a muted guitar on some low-key field recordings, the song reaches HD quality and a neat balance between funk and electronic pop.

The falsetto singing courtesy of Jakob Lebsanft, the man behind Boddy, recalls Rhye’s Mike Milosh and inserts itself snugly into the song’s atmosphere. Together with George Raquet, half of electropop duo COMA, the two Cologne musicians advance slowly but groovingly towards a creeping build-up of drums and synthesizers, before falling back into the fitting chorus of “history will repeat itself / and so will I”.

All the while, the video shows footage of Cologne streets alternating with Lebsanft in a bathtub, covered with crumpled newspaper and breathing the lyrics into your face. Here too, the sexiness is undercut with self-aware humour and weirdness, walking the tightrope of pop without falling into the abyss of kitsch.

The pair’s particular blend of pop music as showcased on “Secret” seduces through tight-but-laid-back playing and the ever-present small flourishes that enhance the backbone of drums, bass, keys and voice.

The track is taken from Boddy & Raquet’s first EP “The Good Fences” which, with nods to Simon & Garfunkel throughout the artwork, tackles the task of making 21st century pop stand out on its own against all its influences – and succeeds more than once.

Stream “The Good Fences” EP on Spotify and Bandcamp.

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Boddy on Instagram, Facebook. Raquet on Instagram, Soundcloud.