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One of the bands that were featured in a very early stage on this blog, is Peppermoon from Paris. After a hiatus, they’re back with a strong, bossanova-tinged single:

Very lush, sunny, laidback tune by Marine. To chase the rains away, for dreams of far away beaches. Love the heavy bassline and her husky voice:

Interesting threesome: Thierry Larose, Ariane Roy & Lou-Adriane Cassidy. This sounds like the theme to a ‘Friends’-like sitcom, based in the 00’s:

‘Maud Evelyne sings in French about loss, love, birds, stars and the end of the world.’ Well, if that’s not sparking your interest, I dunno what does. Maud’s from Montreal, makes indie-pop and has a nice, comforting voice (think Jeanne Cherhal). On a blog like this you’d expect a more fragile song like ‘Pour passer l’hiver’, but this uptempo, melodic track is a keeper:

French singer Elsa Kopf (featured a lot here) took some time off (six years, if I’m not mistaken) but is back now with a new, stylish album. Her spring-fresh performance is still there, as are the slightly soulful & jazzy notes. This is a fave:

Los Éclipes is a Mexican-Franco duo (Dan Solo & Eva de Marce) who make danceable (well most of the time) songs with dark undertones and that high, sultry voice of Eva. This single is great:

Julii Sharp from Toulouse, France, released ‘Toucan’ back in 2021. Now, she’s re-releasing it, updated, on an EP with one more French track (the rest is in English). The atmosphere of ‘Toucan’ reminds me of the more quieter Kristin Hersh-tracks from the 90s. You can hear references to Cohen, Karen Dalton and Marie Laforet too.

William Sheller is a songwriter and classical composer (he wrote soundtracks and ballet music) who isn’t that well known outside of France. He scored some hit singles, but for what I know, even in France he’s a minor celebrity. I first heard of him when someone recommended his first album, 1972’s ‘Lux Aeterna’, as a twin album to Serge’s ‘Melody Nelson’. Choirs! Big orchestra! Religion meets lust! From a review: ‘Sheller conjured up what is at once an over the top symphonic prog epic, but also a strangely meditative operatic chorale, the sound a gorgeous and dizzying fusion of bombastic prog, classical opera, tripped out seventies psych, outsider jazzfunk, and soaring symphonic majesty.’

Recently, a tribute album to Sheller was released, featuring covers by Vincent Delerm, Laura Cahen, Jeanne Cherhal and Marie-Flore. Alas, no one chose one of the songs from Lux Aeterna for the tribute album, but Sheller had other great tracks up his sleeve. Take ‘Vienne’ by Zaho de Sagazan:

Sure, it’s pop. But Maelle’s good. And her voice is just lovely:

A mix of spoken word/slam poetry, chanson and world rhythms. New album is out, featuring collabs with Piers Faccini. Laura Cahen and Leyla McCalla. This is Oriana Lacaille: