On Écoute: Thomas Dutronc
Mild-mannered manouche star with new album
If it’s flawless musical heritage and easy cool that you want from your French pop stars, then you need look no further than Thomas Dutronc. For a start, his...
On Écoute: Jeanne Added
Between her ’80s-style synth, English lyrics and peroxide-blonde crop, Jeanne Added stands out from the crowd...which is exactly why she was named Female Artist of 2019.
Every year since 1985, the Victoires de la Musique...
On Écoute: Alain Souchon
Evergreen, ever wistful chanteur rides on.
Award-winning Alain Souchon, performing in his trademark skinny black tie with shirt unbuttoned at the neck, is in no danger of declining in popularity.
Casablanca-born and raised in Paris, diminutive...
On Écoute: Charles Aznavour
Perhaps France’s greatest ever singer-songwriter
Charles Aznavour sang of love, but also of nostalgia and the tragedy of lost youth. Here we revisit a musical master.
Born to a French-Armenian family in Paris in 1924, Charles...
On Écoute: French Kiwi Juice
Liquid beats for the beach (or anywhere, really)
Why French Kiwi Juice? Because the man behind the moniker, Vincent Fenton, is half French and half Kiwi. The more you know!
Just like his name, the tunes...
On Écoute: Erik Satie
Rediscovering the 19th-century maverick
Lambasted by some and lauded by others, Satie's work (and outlandish behaviour) divided public opinion.
A “phonometrographer”. That's how Erik Satie described himself – not as a musician, but as someone who...
On Écoute: L’Indécis
Unwind with the chill-hop master
For those unfamiliar with chill-hop, welcome to your initiation. C'est simple. Find a snug nook, slip on your best pair of headphones and sink into sensory bliss – this is...
On Écoute: Justice
A Look at France's Electro Dream Team
Not a far cry from Daft Punk, Justice is, like their better-known predecessor, an electronic music duo hailing from Paris – and one of France's greatest exports from...
On Écoute: Stuck in the Sound
Cartoon astronauts and '90s heroes
Let's begin with an origin story. Formed in Paris in 2002, indie rock band Stuck in the Sound is made up of four nostalgia-prone men in their 30s (ish): José...
On Écoute: Indochine
Celebrating the new-wave luminaries
Most folk who grew up in the 1980s remember Indochine with the same misty-eyed sentiment. Hugely popular in their native France, and subsequently the rest of Europe, they remain well known...
