''Psycho Tropical Berlin'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by French band La Femme. It was released on April 8, 2013 under

Barclay Records Barclay is a French Universal Music Group record label, originally owned by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Barclay previously established Riviera-LM Records in 1951. Eddie was a bandleader, pianist, producer and nightclub owner. With his wife and voc ...

Track listing

Notes * "Oh Baby Doll" is a cover of the 1957 song by

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

In popular culture

The track "Sur la planche" was used in a commercial for the

Renault Captur The Renault Captur is a series of subcompact crossover SUVs manufactured by the French automaker Renault. The production version of the first one, based on the B platform, made its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and started to be markete ...

. The track "Sur la planche" was used in "Julie", season 1, episode 3 of the French series '' The Returned'' in 2012. The track "Hypsoline" is featured as the ending credit song in the 2014 horror movie ''As Above, So Below''. The track "Si Un Jour" was used during the end credits for the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' Lovesick''. The track "La Femme Ressort" was used during the short film ''Crème Caramel''. The track "La Femme" was featured as the soundtrack of the Yves Saint Laurent

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

fall/winter 2015/2016 fashion show.Archived a
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The track “It`s Time to Wake Up 2023” was used in the movie ''

Archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

'' in 2020. The track "La Femme Ressort" was used in the 2018 Thai fantasy/mystery TV series '' Girl from Nowhere''.

Critical reception

''Psycho Tropical Berlin'' was met with generally positive reviews from critics. Writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', Huw Nesbitt praised the album's versatility: " 'Psycho Tropical Berlin''brings together influences of ’50s

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

, ’60s

French pop French pop music is pop music sung in the French language. It is usually performed by singers from France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, or any of the other francophone areas of the world. The target audience is the francophone market (primari ...

and ’80s

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

and

coldwave Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine ...

quite marvellously." However, Newbitt also criticized the album for dwelling on these influences: "

he album's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

constant rehashing of the past creates a dull ''Groundhog Day'' effect." In her review of the album for '' Drowned in Sound'', Kat Waplington noted the albums fusions of surf pop and cold wave with "a general Halloween vibe." Walpington concluded by emphasizing the album's potential to appeal to non-French speakers: "Whether or not you can be bothered to translate the lyrics, their manic, rollercoaster

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and fierce hooks should be enough of a draw for the most Anglophone listener."

References

{{Authority control 2013 debut albums Barclay (record label) albums La Femme albums