Two singles so far, by this young (20 years old, says google, no idea if this is true) French singer/producer. Both tracks are very intriguing. Electronics, beats, husky singing and (in case of Elle Sourit) a song about the hard part of being a mom. Mëa (no clue how to pronounce, haha) is an artist to watch. Cool clip, too:
Summer’s ending, grooves keep coming. This is a warm blooded dance track by Claudia Bouvette, love that atmosphere and those echo drenched effects. First time Claudia’s on this blog, she’s Canadian, she’s part of this great song, she made two albums and sings mostly in English. But luckily, also in French.
There’s a lot going on in this song by former The Voice (La plus belle voix, in France) participant Louise Combier. What attracted me in the first place is her pleading, slightly out-of-breath-voice. It adds to the emotional value of the song, the lyrics are about self-acceptance and forgiveness and breaking away from repetitive patterns. Louise wrote the track and plays all instruments, it has a slight 80s synth-pop influence (doesn’t that piano-pattern remind you of Bronski Beat?), also with that vintage sounding drum computer. I keep hearing new sounds and choirs in the track, it’s one of the real highlights of this year.
Nice duet between new(-ish) singer Oscar Emch and force of nature Anna Majidson, who was featured on this blog many times. Oscar likes it soulful, he counts Frank Ocean, Dijon and Childish Gambino among his faves. Those heartwrenching influences you sure can hear on Emch’s album from 2025, and in ‘Illusion’. A song with a good groove and a cool hook. And when you got Anna on board, nothing can go wrong really.
Light the campfires, take out the marshmallows: Marie-Pierre Arthur made an acoustic album, and she revisits her best songs as singalongs, best enjoyed near campfires, roastin’ those marshmallows. A big fave in my book is MPA’s take on 70s yacht rock (think Doobies, think Pages), Rien à faire. And with just voices and acoustic guitars, it still says summer in faded colours (which is a good thing):
What do you expect of a song about summer love? Breeziness and bossa nova? Lighthearted and lush? Or somber dreampop with a dollop of psychedelica? If yer into the latter, Fanny Luzignant (yes, she of La Femme) got you covered with a track that starts dreamy, but builds to a guitaristic crescendo.
Been singing the praise of Grand Eugene for a while, today they released a cool surprise: reigning queen of Quebec Pop, Ariane Moffatt, released a remix version of GE’s Cimetière. And it’s quite the rebuild. I’m not spoiling it for you, but you might wanna turn up the bass around the 2.30 minute mark…
It’s about 30 degrees Celsius in Amsterdam, so it’s time to look at summer singles. One of the names that caught my eye was Mitsou. Canadian cult heroine from the 80s, she updated a single from the 90s.
This is the new version, with added rap, latin vibes, summer breezy:
This is the 1994 version, and yes that’s a Perez Prado sample, five years BEFORE Lou Bega used it in Mambo No. 5:
And this is the indestructible 80s classic by Mitsou: