Justice: Safe and Sound

A new track has emerged by Justice, with the track Safe and Sound played during a  DJ set by the band's manager at the Sonar music festival.

The new track was played by Busy P at the Ed Banger House Party, and a check on Shazam recognized it as a new unreleased track by Gaspard Michel Andre Augé and Xavier de Rosnay.

Their last studio release was 2011's Audio, Video, Disco, with a live collection Access All Arenas released in 2013 documenting their live show at the  Arena of Nîmes the previous year.

A new album by Justice is expected to be released later this year.

Damien Saez: Le Manifeste

A welcome return to activity from Damien Saez,an artist who is to these ears certainly one of France's finest singer songwriters.

Be's confirmed a series of concert dates, including three nights at the Bataclan in Paris in December before a tour across France in March and April, with more Paris shows in April.

He'll be releasing two albums before the end of the year, and is offering the opportunity for a year-long subscription to his new project which he has titled Le Manifeste, running from the end of July this year until the end of July next year, including streaming of the new releases and access to other material.

Saez's last album was Miami, released three years ago, an incendiary work from an artist who remains capable of not only surprising, but constantly delivering material that surpasses what for others would be regarded as artistic peaks.

I don't know what's ahead for Saez in the next 12 months, but I do know that it will be fascinating to find out.

Feu! Chatterton - Bruxelles Ma Belle session

A five-star session by the mighty Feu! Chatterton for Belgian blog Bruxelles Ma Belle.

An acoustic take on Boeing at the Hotel Metropole gives the track a stylish setting, the band looking at home in the plush surroundings.



The vesion of Le Pont Marie takes another track from the band's debut album in the photogenic and luxurious setting at the heart of the city.



Feu! Chatterton continue their live dates that followed the release of their Ici le jour (a tout enseveli) album with festival shows in the next few days,  including the Montreux Jazz Festival and the festival Pause Guitar.

Marc Lavoine ,Coeur de Pirate and Arthur H: Vivre ou ne pas vivre

A new track featuring the combined talents of Marc Lavoine and Coeur de Pirate, collaborating on the song Vivre ou ne pas vivre.

The release comes ahead of Lavoine's forthcoming new album, a project that sees him undertaking musical adaptations of the work of Hans Christian Anderson.

The album sees Lavoine work with Coeur de Pirate and Arthur H, the son of French music legend Jacques Higelin who has enjoyed a successful career of his own.

Lavoine established his career with the track Elle a les yeux revolver in the mid 80s, his most recent studio collection is 2012's Je descends du singe.

Coeur de Pirate is of course no stranger to this blog, her most recent album being last year's Roses, a top five release in France and in her native Canada.

The album, entitled Les souliers rouges is to be released in September.

Editorial: July 2016

Another month begins, with July smack in the centre of festival season. Some of this year's big ticket events in France have already taken place in the last month, from Hellfest to Solidays, Les Eurockeenes to Mainsquare.

Other high profile events are happening in the next few weeks, such as Les Francofolies and Vieilles Charrues.

We've been quieter here than usual, but aim, to make up ground again this month. There's certainly no shortage of things requiring an urgent listen to.

Again, we've seen another record number of visitors to the blog, which is always encouraging. Hopefully we'll see this continue month, with a significant milestone on the horizon.

June of course saw the UK take a massive step backwards on the international stage, with a vote to leave the European Union. It was a vote influenced by blatent xenophobia, misinformation, small mindedness and political shortsightedness. If anything, it shows the scale of the challenge anyone who is an advocate for French or any other European culture faces in the UK. The scale of the decision is horrific, and more will no doubt emerge in the months to come, and it will be a long time until the dust settles.

Ironically it happened at a time that saw French acts enjoy more success in the UK than they have for a while, with Christine and the Queens crowned at Glastonbury, Gojira delivering the molten metal materpiece that is their Magma album, while Kungs takes some French deep house to the high end of the UK charts.


As always, I can be contacted on johnkilbrideAThotmailDOTcom, with the appropriate punctuation where you'd expect it to be. I'm always pleased to hear from record companies, PR companies and promoters, so do get in touch.

The blog is also on Twitter as @viveleroq or you can find me at @karnag

If you're around Facebook, remember to like the French Music Podcast UK page, where you can get regular updates with both fresh and vintage French music.

Thanks as always to the French Music Office in London and to the Institut francais in London for their help and encouragement.

Merci et à bientôt

John K

Jenifer: Paradis Secret

A new single with a clip by Jenifer for the track Paradis Secret, the first track from her forthcoming new
album.

Her new album, her seventh, is expected in the autumn. It's been a successful career for the Star Academy graduate, winning the first season of the reality TV series.

She's gone on to become one of France's most high profile performers, and appears on the french edition of The Voice as one of the regular coaches.

Her last album was 2013's Ma Declaration , a collection of interpretations of songs originally performed by France Gall. It reached number two in the charts, and led to a number of singles.

The new track has already reached the top ten in France, enjoying more success than any of the tracks off her last collection.

She's recently announced a series of concerts in 2017, with shows across France in February and March.

Christine and the Queens: Tilted on the Graham Norton Show

Another major step forward in Christine and the Queens' gradual world domination with a memorableappearance on one of the UK's most popular entertainment shows.

The artist formerly known as Héloïse Letissier performed a live version of the song Tilted, the English take of the song originally known as Christine. 

Letissier was of course originally inspired by her time in London to create Christine and the Queens, nice to see her finally being so widely accepted here.

The song's gone on to receive national radio airplay on Radio One, and while Chaleur Humaine might have originally emerged two years ago, it's still evidently still winning people over. 

The album is now sitting at number one in the UK iTunes chart, ahead of Radiohead, Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers and er...Rick Astley. Tilted sits at number 15 in the iTunes singles chart. No small achievement for a French act.

Christine and the Queens play Glastonbury on June 24, and the Latitude festival on July 15.