Au Rêve (Deluxe Edition)

The Artist

Cassius is the French electronic duo of Philippe Zdar and Hubert Blanc-Francard (Boom Bass), pioneers of the French Touch movement that reshaped dance music in the late 1990s. Emerging from Paris alongside contemporaries like Daft Punk and Air, they built a reputation for filtered disco loops, warm analog textures, and an obsession with groove pulled from hip-hop and funk. Zdar, in particular, became one of the most sought-after producers and mix engineers in the world, later shaping records for Phoenix, The Rapture, and Beastie Boys. Au Rêve is their second studio album, arriving after the breakout success of 1999 and marking a pivot toward song-based structures with guest vocalists. It stands as a transitional record in a catalog that balanced club functionality with pop craft.

The Album

Released in 2002, Au Rêve was recorded largely at Zdar's Motorbass studio in Paris, produced by the duo themselves with their signature attention to analog warmth and mixdown detail. The album leaned harder into vocal collaborations than their debut, pulling in singers to push Cassius toward soul, R&B, and pop territory rather than pure filter-house euphoria. Its lead single, "The Sound of Violence," became a global club staple and one of their most enduring tracks. The deluxe edition expands the record with remixes, including reworks from The Streets and Cosmo Vitelli that reframe the source material through different scenes. Thematically it drifts through desire, distance, and the dreamlike haze suggested by its title.

Listen For

The filter sweep as a hook. On "The Sound of Violence," listen to how the classic French Touch filter opening becomes the melodic identity of the track itself, not just an intro trick.

Vocalist as instrument. Pay attention to how the guest voice on "Im a Woman" is chopped, looped, and pitched, treated more like a sampled break than a lead performance.

Analog warmth in the low end. Zdar was famous for his bass mixing; notice the roundness and physical weight of the low frequencies on "Thrilla (Extended Mix)" and "Barocco."

The remix as reinterpretation. Compare the original "The Sound of Violence" to the Reggae Rock Mix and Narcotic Thrust Remix back to back to hear how radically the same vocal can be recontextualized.

Interlude as breathing room. Short pieces like "Room Tone" and "On" function as palate cleansers, giving the album a cinematic pacing rather than a continuous DJ-set feel.