Cool and very catchy new single by the trio from Montréal, with some soul stabs and a whole lotta sultriness. Late night satin sheets soundtrack.
Articles Written By: guuzbourg
Charlotte Fever
Summer’s just around the corner, so French electropop duo Charlotte Fever (Alexandre & Cassandra) are right on time with this short but effective, 80s inspired track. Haven’t worked out the lyrics just yet, ‘recto verso’ means ‘double sided’ :
Vanessa Paradis
‘Nessa and Etienne Daho are at it again! What a cool summer song (about a break-up, of course)
Oh Non
Yes, most songs on this blog are sweet, slow and tender, and sung by husky women. But sometimes, we like to diverge. 5-piece Oh Non make art pop, somewhere between Last Dinner Party and Les Rita Mitsouko. New single Caïman is just out. Singer Diane Helayell (insta here) likes to dress up, calls herself a ‘cantatrice hystérique’ and has a voice that matches that of Catherine Ringer. It’s not all upbeat, loud and catchy, on their EP from 2024 there’s also a sweet, slow and tender song. For a while, at least. Oh non? Oh yeah!
Sale Gamine some more
Yes, I’m a fan of Carla Verde, aka Sale Gamine. It’s the colourful lollipop-pop she makes. So catchy. Just don’t call her your baby:
Club Célest
No, ’tis not Vanessa Paradis, but this singer (Céline Boudier) shares a very distinct feature with La Paradis. Can you see what I mean? Club Célest makes records since 2020, I missed all of the singles she released up until now. It’s soulful, with a French twist. C’est coule:
Fanny Bloom
Quirky Canadian Fanny Bloom has a good reputation when it comes to summer songs. Like Piscine, for instance. And (ok, late summer) this Joe Dassin cover. Now, she did a very VERY nice, colourful cover of Beau Dommage‘s Tous les palmiers, kind of Quebecoisicalia. Hot!
Poligone
J’aime French synthipop music! So when a duo like Poligone releases their EP, I just have to post about Pauline & Hugo again. They put two live-in-the-studio versions of songs on that EP on YouTube. Alas, there’s just one song available to share via Bandcamp, but of course the full EP is on Spotify. Love the cool vibe, the semi-detached way of Pauline’s singing, the icey keyboards. Sous Ma Peau, from the EP, such a diamond of a song.
Vanille
Vanille (Canadian chanteuse Rachel Leblanc) released a new and VERY brilliant single this week. Of course, it’s full of retro vibes, and of course it’s a tearjerker about lost love: ‘Mais à quoi bon mourir seule dans cette vie aux mille pleurs?’ (But what’s the point of dying alone in this life of a thousand tears?). This is golden Filles Sourires material. Wrote about Rachel earlier, see.
Also this week, a new single by another Vanille was released, a French version of the bossa nova classic Aguas de Março Agua de Beber, written by Antonio Carlos Jobim, French lyrics by Pierre Barouh. This Vanille, actually called Vanille for real, is the daughter of famous French singer Julien Clerc.
But wait, there’s ANOTHER artist with the Vanille-moniker, also French, from Paris, I give you dj/producer Vanille Ferragu.
If you really dive into it, you’ll find even more Vanille’s. It’s a vanilla world people, we just live in it.
Pearl & the Oysters
Quoting from the Stones Throw website, on the new single by bossa nova & bleeps loving duo Pearl & the Oysters: ‘Sous La Lune Mandarine is “an abstract attempt at describing the horrifying night when the Eaton fire broke out in Los Angeles,” P&tO-members Juju and Jojo say. The fires affected many of Pearl’s friends and collaborators from nearby Altadena.
“Sous la lune mandarine” translates to “under the mandarin moon”, and pays homage to Brazilian-influenced French artists like Cortex and Pierre Barouh – and early 1970s Brazilian music (like Banda Black Rio).
Oddly enough the first French song by Pearl & the Oysters, a duo who met & were born in Paris and then moved to the US. Fun interview HERE