Aquaserge Share Le Saut du Tigre

Everyone in the blog realm always go one about French pop due to Stereolab being en vogue (as it should always be), but I’m here to latch on to another French pop act, Aquaserge. There’s a dark electronic pulse to this song, which is how I got completely sucked into it; I’ve been listening to a lot of the late Liars stuff I reckon. The vocals move in and out of different tones, rising in spots to build in a bit of pop sensibility, then slinking back to kind of hide in the shadows of the tune. That aforementioned pulse helps build the tension too, especially when paired with the fleeing characters of the video version. Cool vibes for a Thursday. You’ll find this track on their new LP, La fin de L’economie, out May 24th via Crammed Discs.

More from Camille Benatre

A few weeks back we covered the first single from Camille Benatre‘s Dommage LP, out in March via Hidden Bay Records. There’s another tune floating about today, and it feels like the most subtle bit of French pop to have you creating your own tik tok video as you dance about your bedroom. Honestly, it reminds me of the stuff Erlend Oye (Kings of Convenience) was creating on his solo stuff, danceable yet adhering to a bit of folk stylings. Benatre’s voice will always find a nice place to nestle in your ear canal too, even if, like me, you’re completely in adequate at understanding French.

New Music from Camille Benatre

I was checking in on one of my favorite French labels, Hidden Bay, seeing what they had coming out, as I knew there were a few releases in their 2024 like Petit Bureau and Radical Kitten, but I had no idea about this stunning Camille Benatre! I have no idea what the lyrics are detailing, but the natural playfulness and joy of this single is absolutely undeniable. You can fee the rolling drums and guitar lines tossing and tumbling you along with the natural groove. Benatre’s voice is subdued and charming, only furthered by absolute failure to understand French. Whether you be a Francophile or just a lover of great pop, keep an eye out for Dommage, as it already sounds like a winner; drops in March!

Get Moving With Freedom Fry

The French-American married duo Freedom Fry has long been on our radar for their danceable, indie pop gems. While pumping out tons of hits and seeing songs placed in multiple hit shows and movies, the group also released a stunning EP entitled La Soire.Now trying to close out the summer with a potential song of the season jam, Freedom Fry just released the new single “YOLO” earlier this morning. If you weren’t up and on your feet already, this jam is sure to get you moving along to the beat.

Trainfantome Share New Single

Woke up a bit bleary-eyed this morning, so sliding into this track from France’s Trainfantome was made really easy on my end. The song takes on a down-trodden tone from the get-go, almost like rubbing sleep from your eyes as you crawl out of bed. Once you’ve wiped away the sleep, you start to hear the deeper textures working beneath the song, with the mix doing wonders, as you can hear the distinctive elements that course through the song in both the front and the back. Those in search of that slow-burning headspace need only check out the tune below.

Th Da Freak Shares Serie A

If you travel back in time, you might be able to get the secret Th Da Freak album that was briefly available on Bandcamp. But, it was pulled and then reshuffled and redone, thus where we are today with a fresh single and video from the French songwriter. I’ve always appreciated the songwriting, and there’s something here that’s really refreshing. In a sense, the video and song both have this sort of intimacy that recalls bedroom pop, but there’s this driving hook that courses through the track, elevating the song just enough to have this hook-laden pop rocker. If you dig it, you better grab Indie Rock from Flippin Freaks before it disappears again; it’s out June 16th!

TH da Freak Shares Young Bro

French songwriter Thoineau has a complex and varied discography, but if you were paying attention in 2022, there was a brief 48 hour April Fools release titled Indie Rock. Well, Thoineau, or TH da Freak as he goes by in the music biz, has decided to revisit those old songs and finally get them out into the world. This delicious little pop ditty below is precisely why I’ve been attracted to the artist; there’s some sonic Tony Molina similarities in the voice that provide the natural hooks. Fuzzy guitars with a super lo-fi recording style add the sugar and sprinkles to this pop cookie, so you’re going to want your ears to gobble it up! If you dig, Les Disques du Paradis, Howlin Banana and Flippin Freaks Records will all help get Indie Rock back into the world on June 16th.

Meet the SXSW Band: You Said Strange

Not much left for us to say at this point other than, are you ready for chaos, music, and fun? Hopefully you are, as the events of SXSW are mere days away at this point with tons of things going down this weekend. If you’ve been enjoying our interview sessions, this one is sure to be of interest as the French band You Said Strange really took some time and care with detailed and well thought responses. Great to see a perspective from a European band coming to the States and being exposed to our insane way of life. Hit the jump for deets.

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The Psychotic Monks Share Gamble and Dangle

Honestly, I don’t know too much about The Psychotic Monks, but when listening through to their new single “Gamble and Dangle,” I thought it was just enough outside of what I’ve been posting today, so felt fitting to kind of end there. In it’s crawling pace, the song maneuvers over a thumping, rolling drum, almost meditating on this sort of anti-pop style. At times, the vocals and the guitars flirt with noisy experimentation, ultimately weaving this tapestry of darkened post-pop that evades the trappings of modern indie rock. This tune appears on their new LP, Pink Colour Surgery, so I look forward to diving further into what the French outfit are constructing.

En Attendant Ana Announce Principia

Following on the heels of the ATH approved Juillet, French outfit En Attendant Ana announce their third long-player, Principia. With that news, we’ve got the album’s first single (and title track); it gives us a slight departure from previous singles, though deep dives into the band’s catalog illustrates the magic that’s been there all along. Mostly, this song is a drifter of sorts, floating back and forth between your speakers, matched by the slow-motion video footage accompanying the tune; it’s carefully plotted around the melody, letting the song rise towards a climactic moment, which may or may not be out of reach. What’s interesting is the way one decides to interpret the title, both of the album and the tune. In Spanish, it could mean begin or beginning, referencing the fact that it’s a slightly new evolution of the group, or the first track. It could also look to French where it mostly likely means principle, establishing a new way of viewing the band. Either way, we’re hearing something fresh from the group, and that’s never bad thing. Principia is out February 24th via Trouble in Mind.

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