A Grand Love Story - Kid Loco (1997)
A lot of the early trip hop sound started with alienation and disorientation. It wasn’t until a few years later (like, say, 1997) that there were more bands using the laid back hip hop beats and making something more soothing and melodic.
This is an outstanding example. France was a hotbed in the late 90s for the new sounds of hip hop and ambient melted together with pop. It really is connective tissue between the alien worlds a lot of mid-90s producers explored and the more familiar and welcoming tones of of 21st century downtempo music.
RIYL
If you’re interested in this little pocket of chilled out trip hop, I’d also recommend Air’s Moon Safari and the first couple records by St Germain, especially his debut Boulevard. While they’re not French, The Cinematic Orchestra was also getting started around this time and were very much in this vein.
