Impossible to say exactly what's going on here, but it's absolutely incredible.
Angine de Poitrine look like a novelty act. Somewhere between Daft Punk on a budget or Strawberrry Switchblade after a couple of strange decades. But musically, there's no questioning them.
There's a lot going on here, some kind of high-speed progressive instrumental rock re-imagined for the 21st century. Complex but approachable, shot through with an absurdity that doesn't take itself too seriously or fall too heavily in the ditch of heavy-handed humour.
Maybe the double-necked guitar made me think more prog that it should. There's certainly something of Gong or Ozric Tentacles going on. Maybe faster. Something of Beefheart or Zappa, but more nimble.
Angine de Poitrine are from Quebec, the performance is from December's Les Trans Musicales in Rennes. I can confirm while it's the kind of festival that's full of eye-opening acts, this performance has had around 2 million views on YouTube, well beyond what might be considered 'usual'.
A return from Christine and the Queens, this time firmly under the Christine and the Queens name rather than Rahim Redcar.
It even tells you in big letters at the end that it's by Christine and the Queens, in case there's any doubt. He's recently clarified that Christine and the Queens is the artistic project, while his name remains Rahim Redcar.
Christine and the Queens was an identity he used in the past, but it is not his personal identity which remains as Rahim Redcar. He's comfortable with the older assumed name as it's part of his artistic legacy, but the difference between that name and his personal identity allows him to remain in the identity he is comfortable with.
It's only actually difficult to get your head around if you choose to make it complicated.
I'm not sure if I really got into the Redcar les adorables etoiles/ Paranoia Angels, True Love work and Hopecore kind of passed me by, but Ah Ya is an interesting piece
Thee Diane, who appears on the cover of Redcar les adorables etoiles, released her debut single Bonjour in November 2024 and perhaps inspired mich of the musical direction of the new piece, but as Rahim comments: "Ah ya is the collaboration of two rebels", hopefully we'll see more rebellious creation on the horizon.
A significant French music presence at the Grammy Awards at the weekend with Gesaffelstein picking up the trophy for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his work on the track Abracadabra by Lady Gaga.
Gesaffelstein worked with her on the 2025 album Mayhem, co-writing four tracks and co-producing three, and also featuring on the track Killah.
Abracadabra was released as a single in February 2025 and reached the UK top five, and achieved platinum status in France
The song incorporates elements of the Siouxsie And The Banshees song Spellbound, the members of the band at the time getting co-writing credits on Abracadabra.
It was a lowkey winner's speech from Gesaffelstein - he didn't speak a word - but it was a memorable appearance on the winner's podium. It took me a while to figure out what was going on when I saw the initial photos of him, but it's a lot clearer in the video.
French acts have done well in this category at the Grammy Awards before, with David Guetta, Cedric Gervais, and Justice amongst the previous winners.
Lady Gaga had also been nominated for Album Of The Year, and Record Of The Year for Abracadabra, as well as Best Pop Solo Performance for Disease
She won the Best Pop Vocal Award for the album Mayhem and Best Dance-Pop Recording for Abracadabra.
Lady Gaga put on a performance of the track in her own unique style during the show.
A farewell to Sly Dunbar, half of one of the finest reggae rhythm sections. Sly and Robbie - Dunbar and Shakespeare - were a vital force in the work they did, whether with international stars like Grace Jones, Bob Dylan, or as the musicians at Studio One playing with Black Uhuru and countless others. But it's the work they did with Serge Gainsbourg that brings them to the attention of this blog.
Gainsbourg wasn't the first white Western artist to play reggae by any means, there was something of a trend among by-then established artists to embrace the style. Often with limited success or with what seemed to be little more than opportunistic appropriation.
Gainsbourg was different in his approach. he went at it not like a new trend or the adoption of a passing dance craze, he sought out the best musicians: Sly and Robbie, the I Threes and others and he recorded in Jamaica. Although many of the songs on his first reggae album was material he had previously recorded, it was in a radically different style, opening up new possibilities in his work, and his version of the French national anthem, re-titled Aux armes et cætera caused a genuine culture shock in France on its release.
There were two studio albums, 1979's Aux armes et cætera,and 1981's Mauvaises Nouvelles des Etoiles as well as a live album, Enregistrement public au Théâtre Le Palace in 1980. All have been re-issued, re-mixed, extended, dub versioned and gainsbourg's reggae work rightly celebrated.
Gainsbourg didn't just do reggae. He did the best reggae and Sly and Robbie were it's backbone.
I make no promises, but this blog might be in danger of becoming an Alain Bashung stan blog.
I recently got a hold of Bashung's Immortel complete studio recordings collection (24 discs!) at a ridiculous price (under £20!) online. Perhaps one of the few advantages of French artists being almost unknown in the UK is the occasional opportunity to pick up items like this at giveaway prices. It's always worth holding on to any vouchers you get at Christmas and checking regularly.
But I digress. I was familiar with some of Bashung's work, and a huge fan of it - albums like Fantaisie Militaire, Bleu Petrole and Play Blessures. Bleu Petrole, in particular, I considered a work of a major artist. But the complete works box gave me a deeper dive, and let me listen to material I was unfamiliar with - as well as material I already knew - in its more complete context.
The box has all his studio albums, including Cantique des Cantiques with his wife Choe Mons. The posthumous collections L'Homme A Tete de Choux and En Amant, two discs of instruments, four of duos and rarities, and a disc each for bonus material from Osez Josephine and Fantaisie Militaire. There's a lot to listen to, and I've still not reached the end of it yet.
Immediate follow-up? I picked up the Bashung Live 1985-2009 at an equally bargain price.
A preview of the forthcoming Sébastien Tellier album, with the track Parfum Diamant in A COLORS SHOW. All capitals, of course, because that's the brand and to be honest, I'm happy to associate an upper case artist like Sébastien Tellier with a show that absolutely shouts out its name.
COLORS has a nice formula for presenting artists. Uncomplicated, no gimmicks, and the focus squarely on the artist who is front and centre of the event. But the visual style is unmistakable. Hats off to them, it's always a pleasure to watch their output.
Speaking of hats, Tellier is giving a vibe that could straight from Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain, a mystic poet hidden by a hat, shades, and a beard. Walking a fine line between dandy and holy man, high fashion or just a bearded guy in a black suit, whispering words that could be platitudes or pearls of wisdom.
Maybe he's best known for performing at Eurovision when he arrived on stage in a golf cart, but there's always been more going on with Tellier. Even a fairly minimal piece like Parfum Diamant sticks in your head with a single listen.
Tellier's Kiss The Beast album, with contributions from Nile Rodgers, Kid Cudi, and Slayyyter, is released on January 30. I'm already excited about this one, the first album I've really been looking forward to so far this year, so well worth getting a pre-download to catch it when it drops, I reckon.
The shortlist for this year's Victoires de la Musique awards has been released, and as always, it's an interesting read. It's the 41st time the event which celebrates Francophone music and artists has been held.
Sitting with five nominations is Theodora, with breakthrough female artist, live artist, album, single and audiovisual creation, so she'll probably be going home with something to decorate her mantlepiece.
Meanwhile, there are four significant nominations for Star Academy graduate Helena, best female breakthrough artist, live breakthrough artist, and best album and single,
But not all the focus is on modern Francophone pop, it's nice to see Feu! Chatterton make the shortlist with what was - for this blog at least - the French album of the year as well as a nomination for best male artist.
The awards take place on Friday February 13 at the Seine Musicale arena, and long with the awards there will be some memorable performances showcasing the musical talent of France and beyond, televised on France 2.
Male artist
Disiz
Feu! Chatterton
Pierre Garnier
Orelsan
Female artist
Charlotte Cardin
Aya Nakamura
Vanessa Paradis
Santa
Male breakthrough
Ino Casablanca
L2B
Sam Sauvage
Female breakthrough
Helena
Miki
Theodora
Live breakthrough
Helena
Miki
Theodora
Album
Hélé - Helena Labyrinthe - Feu! Chatterton La fuite en avant - Orelsan Méga BBL - Theodora On s'en rappellera pas - Disiz
Song
Fashion Designa -
Theodora
Les filles les meufs - Marguerite
Mauvais garçon - Helena
Soleil Bleu - Luiza & Bleu Soleil
Tant pis pour elle - Charlotte Cardin
Concert
DJ Snake
Justice Live - Justice
Santa
Zouzou Tour - Philippe Katerine
Audiovisual creation
Fashion Designa - Theodora
Je t'accuse - Suzane
Tant pis pour elle - Charlotte Cardin
On the tenth anniversary of the passing of David Bowie there have been a raft of tributes, written, on the radio and on TV. The date was marked in France as elsewhere, and one of the most interesting was a special on ARTE with some of Bowie's best-know songs being reinterpreted by other acts.
The Molotovs, The Horrors, La Roux, Carl Barat and Pete Doherty, Anna Calvi and The Divine Comedy all feature. Jeanne Added provides some much-needed French input while Yasmine Hamdan brings the show to its end with The Man Who Sold the World.
The documentary by Thierry Gautier and Sylvain Leduc, which runs just under an hour, includes a bit of background from each artist on their chosen cover. All sensitively and atmospherically shot.
You can cast questions endlessly about which acts deserved to be included here: Why The Horrors and not Suede? Perhaps it's a bit old school indie. Similar questions can be asked about the songs covered. Why aren's some of my favourites included? No matter. What's actually there is more interesting than what isn't and what could have been there. All the acts bring something different, from the reverential (Anna Calvi) to the more spontaneous and energetic (The Molotovs and Barat/Doherty).
There's some great stuff here. You might not like everything, but like those 'tribute' albums of the '80s and '90s that featured a raft of artists covering the work by a particular artist, it both throws up some unexpected gems and encourages a different interpretation of material you're probably familiar with.
It's probably not possible to overstate how big a deal Gims is in France. His Le Nord se souvient: l'Odyssée album was the biggest selling album of 2025 in France, in an end-of-the-year chart that saw every one of the top ten sellers in France being by French-associated artists, and rap/urban music dominating.
The double album spawned a barrage of singles and videos, the most recent Parisienne in August, reaching number one in France and over 75 million views on YouTube in just a couple of months. Gims also released the top-selling single of 2025, with Ciel.
Add to this a tour that included five sold-out shows at the Paris La Défense Arena in 2025, He's got a busy live schedule for 2026, with dates at pretty much every major summer festival, and Gims is back at the Paris La Défense Arena in December.
His new track Overton, a stripped-down rap number, is a nimble piece of rhyming and beats that shows that even with the success he's had over recent years, he's still a master of the basics and can still hit as hard as any hungry young artist.
A new video for a frankly funky piece by Vanessa Paradis from
her 2025 album Le retour des beaux jours.
Les épines du Coeur follows Bouquet final which emerged as a
clip in June, the album being released in October. Le retour des beaux jours is
her eighth album, her first since 2018’s Les Sources.
She's a unique artist, who is probably one of the best-known French performers in the anglophone world on account of her early international hit. Although her status as a model and brand representative, her involvement with Johnny Depp and her acting career have probably helped maintain her profile outside France more than her subsequent musical career.
Paradis collaborated with Etienne Daho on the new album,
Paradis having appeared on Daho’s 2023 album Tirer la nuit sur les étoiles,
duetting with him on the album’s title track.
She’s touring extensively in arenas across France from March,
two dates in May at the Zenith in Paris are already sold out.
Additional dates later in the year include a
show at the Accor Arena in Paris in November
A quite wonderful clip of the mighty Feu! Chatterton doing their thing live at the studio of France Inter.
While it's in a more controlled situation than a regular live show, it allows a closeness and a quality of the video production that are often missed when a full-scale live event is being captured. There's an argument that you'll never really capture an act's live experience on the small screen, as a million low-quality audience videos will testify. Perhaps this kind of session is an ideal compromise, allowing the intimacy of a close-up performance and the quality of a studio production.
I make no apology for thinking Feu! Chatterton are one of the best things to have come out of France musically in recent years. Their releases have been consistently high-quality affairs, literate, witty and intelligent, but somehow without taking themselves too seriously. They walk a fine line and do so with style.
It's ten years now since the release of their debut Ici le Jour (a tout enseveli) and their 2025 album Labyrinthe is every bit as essential as that first album was.
The clip comes from a performance in October 2025. It's worth tracking down all the other clips, including Allons Voir and L'affiche Rouge. A recent version of Mille Vagues is also available.
They're on tour across France's arenas this year from the end of this month, including two sold-out shows in Paris in February and sets at what seem like most of the country's summer festivals.
A new video from Indochine, marking the end of 2025 and the start of a new year. A video for the track No Name emerged two months ago, and now it's the turn of the song Sanna Sur La Croix, both from the 2024 album Babel Babel.
Sanna Sur La Croix is dedicated to former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, a political leader who Indochine singer Nicola Sirkis voiced his admiration for. During her term in office footage of her at a private party was leaked, which led to opposition right-wing politicians to call for her to undergo drugs tests. Marin was strongly opposed to Putin's invasion of Ukraine and led Finland to become a member of NATO.
The voice at the beginning of the video is Marin, explaining "I am a human being. And I too, sometimes want joy, light and fun in the middle of these dark clouds.
"And that involves all kinds of photos and videos that I wouldn't want to see, and yet they're showing them to all of us. It’s private, it’s joy and it’s life."
The band are plain in their support for Marin in the song, and the unfairness of those who criticised her, who they say did not deserve her.
The band performs on the back of a lorry in the Finnish capital Helsinki, the footage interspersed with brief live clips of Indochine playing at Bercy in Paris.
Indochine have toured pretty relentlessly in 2025 and have dates in January, February and March this year to bring their arena tour to a close, including an astonishing eight dates at the Accor Arena in Paris. Meanwhile, the Babel Babel album has sold over a quarter of a million copies since its release.
It's kind of funny to see a crowd of maybe two dozen people applaud the band at the end of the performance in Helsinki, given the size of the audiences the band has played to during their latest tour.
With the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, we don't care to remember his vile politics, his ideology of hatred and division, his friends who were on the wrong side of history or the legion of idiots who followed him.
We remember and celebrate all who rejected him, who united in new ways to make their voices heard loud and clear that the values of modern France were not the values of Vichy. That liberty, equality and brotherhood do not have terms and conditions or exclusions applicable.
He died at a time when some people who should know better need to remember that the lies offered by the far-right are always far wrong. We remember though that Le Pen's hateful agenda promised much and delivered nothing other than soiling the political discourse of the country and beyond.
It's a stain that has tarnished society from Paris to Washington to the world, as the right dusts down its old uniforms to disguise the fact that they're more thieves than politicians while centrists politely drift in the same direction while trying not to rock a boat that should have long ago been sunk.
We remember Le Pen was ultimately a failure despite his posturing as the powerful, and how he was rejected by the voters and thrown out of his own party.
We remember how he inspired a reaction against racism, inspired solidarity between people and made people realise that being actively involved meant there could be real hope for something better rather than empty lies peddled by Le Pen and his hopeless friends.
An interesting little clip of the song Paroles...Paroles featuring Celine Dion and Alain Delon, the legendary French actor whose death was confirmed earlier today.
The song was originally released in 1973 by Dalida with Delon duetting with her, and featured on Dalida's Julien... album from that year. An adaptation of an Italian song, it reached the top ten in France at the time and sold well in other countries, becoming in subsequent years one of the best-known French songs internationally, and inspired covers in other languages.
Delon plays a supporting role in the song, perhaps wisely leaving the actual singing to the female vocalist
A video of the original was eventually released in 2019, Delon's involvement in the original essentially being only in the recording studio. Dalida would continue to perform the song live for the rest of her career, either solo or with other vocalists.
This version is from 1996, recorded in December 1996 for a New Year show broadcast on France 2 on December 31.
I'd normally be writing something about Eurovision today, about how it's not a real representation of music across Europe. About how ultimately from a UK point of view it's seen as an excuse to laugh at those funny foreigners trying to do something we invented and are the absolute masters of. And how those foreigners just don't appreciate our mastery of popular music and vote for someone else instead.
I'd be discussing France's entry, and how it compares to previous times with a video or two to illustrate some of France's most memorable performances.
But this year it's a bit different. The competition comes with a backdrop of the atrocities in Gaza, and how the show must go on even with a representative of Israel on the stage acting like they're just another fun-loving country who are only there for the music.
But it's a lie. They're there to normalise the situation, to maintain that Israel is an acceptable modern country that's the equal of any one of the others. Apparently, it's all just fun anyway, it's about music, not politics, isn't it?
Aye, right, as they say around here.
Apartheid South Africa was shunned from international sport. Russia was excluded from Eurovision following the invasion of Ukraine. Rogue states can be held to account for their actions in non-political events and it would be right for Israel to be denied a place this year.
The organisers want the focus to be on the music, not the horrors off stage. The slogan for this year is "United by music."
We should be, but only if Israel was dropping beats rather than bombs,
Another new release by David Hallyday, with a song aimed at
filling the Johnny Hallyday-shaped hole in the world of French music, this time
a duet between father and son of the title track of Johnny Hallyday’s 1999 album,
a song co-written by David Hallyday
It’s from the forthcoming Requiem pour un Fou album due out
at the end of June, a work David has described it as “the most important
project of my life”. It’s a collection of
covers of songs recorded by his father, plans for an album of songs by David
that were originally intended for Johnny were abandoned in favour of a more
direct approach.
The title track of the new album was released at the end of
last year, a cover of the song from Hallyday pere’s 1976 Derrier l’amour
collection, a song that would go on to be one of his best-known works. Like Hallyday
Jr’s cover of Requiem pour un fou, the new version of Sang pour sang doesn’t
wander far from the original. The production and music take it more into the 21st century. While it may be a comparatively recent Johnny
number given the length of his career, but times, technology and tastes move on
and its purpose is as much to win over a new generation of fans as to satisfy
those already converted.
It’s an interesting take on the song, David and Johnny’s
voices are so matched it’s hard to tell which is which, which is a serious credit
in David’s favour here. Johnny was, after all, one of France’s most distinctive
voices. It’s a tricky line to walk though, a tribute to a departed father, especially one who was
held in such widespread esteem, risks being mawkish or, given the celebrity attention
and the unresolved familial disputes, seen as an exploitative or in poor taste.
I don’t think there’s anything to worry about here. David
Hallyday has more right than anyone else to sing his father’s songs. He’s
already established himself as an artist and, lest we forget, a matter of years
has passed since Le taulier left us. Maybe it’s only right that David should
claim his family heritage.
As for the video, the game of pool an echo of the pool hall
scene from the original Sang pour Sang video. There’s no crowd like there is in
the original now, just David H on his own, later joined by another in a game of
pool by a younger man. The part is, appropriately, played by Cameron Smet, the son
of David Hallyday. The song is a duet between father and son, the video features
a different father and son. Time moves on, new generations take their place.
There’s much going on in the video, and it’s nicely done.
Johnny’s presence and influence is there throughout, but the focus is now on David.
I expect that’s how David wants it to be, and probably Johnny would as well.
David Hallyday’s album Requiem pour un fou is released at
the end of June, his tour begins in November
Some serious issues ahead for the Vieilles Charrues festival, France's biggest summer music event. Organisers are warning that this year's event, scheduled for July 11-14, could be the final edition of the festival unless the problems are addressed.
They're concerned about several measures that the local government has called on, including a loss of the land they can use for the event which means a loss of half of the camping area and less parking space, the local authority acquiring the festival organisers' office at the main entry to the event and a charge of 400,000 Euros for use of the site at Kerampuilh, despite organisers saying they'd agreed for it to be used for five years with the festival donating more than 2 million Euros in work, shows and the equivalent of 2,000 tickets to the local authority.
Organisers say the constant changes have resulted in a lack of stability that now endangers the future of the festival.
It's a difficult situation, and it comes at a time when the future of many large-scale music events is looking uncertain due to the economy and the difficulties that came in the wake of Covid, Vieilles Charrues cancelling its 2020 event.
The festival was created in 1992 and has been held in Carhaix since 1995 and over the three-decades-plus that it's been held, it's attracted some of the biggest names in music - both French and international - to Carhaix in Brittany. Some of the international acts that have played there include the likes of Bruce Springsteen. Iggy
Pop, Muse, Lou Reed, The Cure, Bob Dylan, Rammstein, Neil Young, Lana Del Rey and Depeche Mode, while from France, acts like Stromae, Indochine, Justice, Etienne Daho, Vanessa Paradis, -M- have all played along with legends like Johnny Hallyday, Jane Birkin Charles Aznavour and Jacques Dutronc.
Last year’s edition included Robbie Williams, Blur, Soprano, Rosalia and Red Hot Chili Peppers in headline slots, alongside sets from BigFLo & Oli, Jeanne Added, Shaka Ponk, Lomepal, Pomme, Phoenix and Silmarils.
Despite having the big names at the top of the bill, the event has not lost touch with its roots, with local acts and newly emerging artists regularly getting the opportunity to perform.
The festival is - to say the least - a big deal and it draws a crowd of hundreds of thousands to the area, last year's event attracting its biggest-ever crown of some 346,000 people.
Love this clip of Jacques Higelin from 1976. Acoustic and up close and personal, with just a touch of
late glam rock and early punk about him. It's so lowkey and natural, and the talent at his fingertips just shines through.
Cigarette as metaphor? Something very French about that for sure, and it's the kind of song that you couldn't get away with these days. At the very least, a government health warning would be required, perhaps it would only be available in plain packaging and pressed in a nauseating green vinyl if a limited Record Store Day release came out.
The original was from his legendary BBH75 album, an astonishing work where Higelin, previously an experimental singer-songwriter, embraced rock music as part of a three-piece band with drummer Charles Bennaroch and Simon Boissezon on bass and guitar. It was a bold move, and one that not only established Higelin's reputation but also went a long way to establish the possibilities of rock music as a viable proposition in the French language.
BBH75 maintains the experimental edge that Higelin had in his earlier works, but this is hitched to a raw electric sound, one that evolved from the electric blues and heavy rock of the early 1970s, and pre-dated the championing of the rough-edged urban experience championed by acts from later in the decade. BBH75 somehow sounds post-punk despite being released in 1974.
BBH75 sees Higelin in a place somewhere between Lou Reed and Ian Dury, the poetic lyricist drawing his inspiration from his everyday environment, earthy but with class, style and an effortless literacy. An authentic witness to his world, the sharp guy with the knowledge of the local streets and faces, able to articulate and sum up what's really going on internally and externally. There's perhaps a wink that he doesn't take himself too seriously though, as the smoker's coughs in the studio version of Cigarette confirms.
A French-speaking singer didn't have to try to match what was going in in American or British rock music but could create something unique on its own terms. Concepts like genre - rock, chanson, blues, whatever - could be used, incorporated or discarded as appropriate and a French artist could release something solidly groundbreaking. It was always all about authenticity all along.
Did Higelin ever better the BB75 album? I'm not sure, but I'll be spending some time going through his back catalogue and finding out.
It's still an unusual phenomenon for a French artist to make the news in the UK, and the circumstances surrounding the appearance of Kendji Girac are even more unusual.
The BBC report that The Voice France star was seriously injured in a shooting incident, apparently an accidental shooting caused by the singer himself while he was handling a pistol he had earlier bought in a junk shop.
His injuries were serious, with a gunshot wound to the chest, but while remaining in a serious condition he's no longer thought to be in danger. He was, reportedly, able to tell emergency services what happened when they arrived on the scene.
Girac has had four number-one albums in France, from 2014's Kendji to 2012's L'école de ma vie and he also performs as one of the members of Les Enfoirés, the charity group that raises money for the Restos do Coeur charity. Along the way, he's picked up a handful of awards. He's also become something of a representative of the French Gypsy community from the southwest of France, while his songs have made a significant impact in Spain, his Catalan-speaking upbringing winning him a receptive audience over the border.
While it's easy to assume a shooting incident involving a singer is somehow linked to serious or organised crime, Girac's always had a clean-cut reputation, and there doesn't seem to be anything sinister behind what happened. Police are obviously still investigating the circumstances of the incident.
Hopefully. he'll be back to health before too long. It's interesting that the UK media took an interest in this story, even if they did hang it on his The Voice France success rather than the fact he's been a massively popular artist for a decade. Still, a UK audience would know what The Voice was and are less likely to be familar with a singer who's not all that well known here. As usual, we're a very insular country when it comes to music, with anglophone artists always taking prominence with only one or two exceptions. Nice to see the BBC taking a broader view of things, even though it's in the most unfortunate circumstances.
