Emile Sornin has a robot in his life. It's not love, but it's not friendship either, and Forever Pavot is releasing an album on Born Bad that documents this affair. After a string of slick pop studio albums and a small stack of soundtracks, Emile needed a break. To put an end to this, he and Jonas Euvremer, an exceptional craftsman, began building an automaton to make his musician's life easier. Melchior, who gave the record its name, has the face of a ventriloquist's dummy, two plastic left hands, stylish clothes, and a rudimentary logic circuit. This affable cousin of Bender's is supposed to give interviews and handle social contacts for Emile. The plan worked: Melchior is the perfect disguise, and his mere existence got our man back to work. They paved the way for some serious electronic ventures (mostly in English, by the way). Subcontinental bass and powerful drums, heavy-footed and audacious: as much appreciated as they were unexpected. The half-android shares the songwriting credits and the perfectly sung vocal parts. Not jealous, Melchior makes room for a guest of his choice on "UFO" and "Waiting for the Sign": Lispector. Julie Margat sings and contributed to the lyrics of these two bangers, which offer plenty of context (robotic fear is real). Kumisolo, our beloved Japanese It-girl in Paris, also sent her "Postcard," more steam than song, ethereal musical cotton candy of arrangements. Domotic, who mixes and co-produces, gives "Count to 10," a hip-hop/krautrock crossover with a BEAK> flavor, a nice twist. The Forever Pavot, once a big band, will tour as a bass/drums/keyboards & vocals trio, with Melchior as a guest. From album to album, Emile Sornin has evolved into an increasingly educated musical illiterate. If need be, his music can still become a thicket of old and modern finds. "Le robot gentilhomme," a skillful pastiche of the Baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, would hold its own against Wendy Carlos. His love of oldies is also evident in "Skyway," a homage to the late Pierre Arvay, France's Colonel Sanders of library music nuggets. Forever Pavot may have indulged himself, but he remains true to the golden age of film music. Ancestors like Ennio Morricone and François de Roubaix make Hitchcockian cameos: discreet appearances to be heard (those syncopated cascades of syllables at the end of "UFO," and I reckon we can indulge in some clavichord/Odiolin Victoria sponge). His latest flirtation is anything but a toxic one. "Melchior, Vol. 1": the robo-bromance is not over yet. Tracklisting 1 Waiting for the Sign 2 Patch 1985 3 Count to 10 4 Godbot 5 Skyway 6 Le Robot Gentilhomme 7 UFO 8 Cosmic Battle 9 Olympus 10 Shoppers on the Run 11 Postcard 12 Melchiator New product