Tomorrow's World: Drive

Last week I featured a round-up of some of the French bands that were featuring at the Great Escape event in Brighton, a festival and music industry conference that acts as a showcase for hundreds of new acts hoping to make an impression on the British.


So I thought that having done a feature - that was helpfully picked up by the good people at the institut français du Royaume-Uni's Culturethèque blog- I would follow it up by a more in-depth look at some of the acts that were featured, one act at a time.

First up, Tomorrow's World whose song  Drive has been one I've been listening to repeatedly lately.

One of the band's members is Air's Jean-Benoit Dunckel, the other is Lou Hayter from New Young Pony Club and together they form a very fine outfit. A side project for both musicians, but one that nonetheless demands your full attention.

their name comes from a BBC TV show that ran in the 60s to 80s, featuring then-cutting edge technology, re-runs of which make essential retro viewing. The programme also featured one of Kraftwerk's first TV appearances in the UK, and was memorable to many as it was on BBC on a Thursday night alongside Top of the Pops.

The track came out on an EP at the end of last month, originally as a special 10' vinyl for Record Store Day, with versions of the song re-imagined by Tom Furse, Yan Wagner and Axel Le Baron.

It followed their self-titled album that was released at the beginning of the month, a blend of cool female vocals and electro soundscapes, with nods to the like of Angelo Badalamenti and the rock 'n' roll pulse of Suicide.

The album's been given the thumbs up by Esquire magazine as one of the best retro-futurist electronic albums from France this year, alongside Daft Punk and College. They've also featured in an NME round up of ten great French acts.

As I'd hoped, the attention to the likes of Daft Punk and Phoenix in the media is giving other French acts a higher profile, and it's not before time.

The band currently have a remix competition for versions of the track Drive, with the winner being announced on June 6.

They're also playing more live dates around Europe in May and June.