Tag: Paris France

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Gabriella Lima Shares a Breezy, Genre-Defying Bop

São Paulo-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter Gabriella Lima relocated to Paris back in 2014. And since locating to The City of Light, Lima has been busy crafting material that pushes genre and cultural boundaries. 

Lima’s 2021 full-length debut, the nine-song Bálsamo found the Brazilian-born, French-based artist writing material that drew from soul, pop, samba, chanson and several other styles.

Her recently released sophomore album Sabor Solaire sees the Brazilian-born, French-based artist further cementing a genre and style-defying sound. The album features “Meu Lugar,” a Sade/Quiet Storm-like touch on samba and Bossa nova featuring an atmospheric yet percussive arrangement with strummed acoustic guitar that serves as a lush bed for the Brazilian-French artist’s achingly tender delivery. The song as she explained talked about a the transformation of an intense and true relationship.

Sabor Solaire‘s latest single “Couleur Bonheur (Frisson)” sees the São Paulo-born, Paris-based artist’s achingly tender Bossa nova-like delivery floating over a slick synthesis of samba soul, Afrobeats, hip-hop and funk. But its core, “Couleur Bonheur (Frisson)” reveals an artist, who pairs earnest, lived-in lyrics with an uncanny knack for catchy hooks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Creange Shares a Neurotic, Club Friendly Bop

Creange is a an intentionally recognized Paris-based DJ and producer, who has developed a reputation for creating high energy, positive and downright fun songs. And as a result, the French DJ and producer has spent the past decade or so, playing some of Europe’s renowned clubs, including Ibiza‘s Pacha, London‘s Ministry of Sound and Amsterdam‘s Escape. He has also been a resident DJ at one of Paris’ most beloved and groundbreaking clubs, Chez Raspoutine for eight years.

Adding to a growing profile in the electronic music scene, Black Coffee, Whomadewho, Faithless, Joris Delacroix, Jamie Jones, Âme, Gorgon City and a list of others have spun his work in their sets.

The Parisian producer and DJ’s latest single “Mad” is an LCD Soundsystem-like bop featuring an angular, post-punk-meets-disco-influenced bass line, angular and squiggling bursts of guitar, oscillating synths, cowbell punctuated four-on-the-floor serving as an nervous yet dance floor friendly bed for a neurotic James Murphy and David Byrne-inspired sing-songy delivery.

While showcasing a producer with an uncanny knack for incredibly catchy hooks, “Mad” captures the zeitgeist of our moment: Everything has been upended. Left is right. Right is left. War is peace. Fascism and economic ruin is everywhere. It’s a mad, mad, and world — and it’s on fire. Might as well have fun and dance until the flames engulf everything we care about . . .

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Thaïs Shares a Club Friendly Bop

Rising Paris-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter and JOVM mainstay Thaïs specializes in an atmospheric and delicate pop sound, which compliments her ethereal delivery. Thematically, her work typically focuses on melancholy, loneliness and dysfunctional, confusing, heartbreaking love.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past handful of years, you may recall that 2022 was a breakthrough year for the JOVM mainstay: She signed with Bravo Musique, who released her highly anticipated full-length debut, Tout est parfait.

Since then the French Canadian artist has had busy couple of years: She has expanded upon her growing profile, opening for KYO, M, Arianne Moffatt, Dumas and Suzane while working on her Blaise Borboën and Thaïs co-produced sophomore album Personne. The album also features contributions from La Faune’s multi-instrumentalist Jay Essiambre and bassist Émile Farley.

Slated for an April 4, 2025 release, the rising JOVM mainstay’s sophomore album will reportedly be “extroverted music for introverts” — energetic tracks that lead towards self-affirmation while allowing listeners to delve deeper into her universe.

Personne’s fourth single “Taxi” is a slickly produced, dance floor friendly bop that sounds as though it were inspired by Robyn. And while arguably being the most club ready songs of her growing catalog, the song is anchored by her penchant for pairing introspective lyrics with remarkably catchy hooks. The song’s narrator is on her way back from a night out, sitting in the backseat of the titular taxi, when she’s caught the ghost of a past relationship — through a favorite song or a passing by a place that reminds of her this past lover or something along those lines.

Directed by Alexis Boudrias, the accompanying video introduces us to a bruised and battered Thaïs waking up from some sort of accident and then performing the song in a bare studio. We also see the rising French-Canadian heading to a party and when she arrives, quickly realizes that she doesn’t belong. She makes an attempt to leave and winds up in the studio, where she presumably feels more like herself.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Paris Duo La Punta Bianca Shares Eerily Dreamy Single

Paris-based synth pop/synthwave duo La Punta Bianca — Francesca Diprima (vocals) and Phillipe Brown (vocals, synths, drum machines) made a name for themselves in the Parisian alternative and indie scenes with their debut EP, 2019’s Demian. The EP saw the duo firmly cementing their sound: Diprima and Brown’s dreamy melodies are paired with equally dreamy synth-based soundscapes.

Initially released on cassette tape, the EP was then pressed on vinyl twice. The EP’s success in the synthwave scene enabled the duo to tour across France and the European Union.

The Parisian duo’s highly-anticipated and long-awaited full-length debut, Disquiet is slated for a March 18, 2025 release through Detriti Records. The album, which continues a run of material rooted in absurdist romanticism and Lynchian strangeness, sees the pair drawing from Angelo Badalamenti, John Barry and Leonard Cohen with songs being sometimes dancey, sometimes melodramatic. Lyrics were written and are sung in French, Italian and English throughout. All of this is paired with carefully programmed synth and drum machine-driven arrangements.

Disquiet‘s first single “Extanimal,” is a dream-like song featuring twinkling synth arpeggios, Casio synthesizer-like beats as a lush yet atmospheric bed for Diprima and Brown’s eerily uncanny boy-girl harmonies. The result is a song that reminds me quite a bit of Young Narrator from the Breakers-era Pavo Pavo — but with a nouveau vague sensibility.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Gabriella Lima Shares a Quiet Storm-like Bit of Samba

São Paulo-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter Gabriella Lima relocated to Paris back in 2014. And since locating to The City of Light, Lima has been busy crafting material that pushes genre and cultural boundaries. 

Lima’s 2021 full-length debut, the nine-song Bálsamo found the Brazilian-born, French-based artist writing material that drew from soul, pop, samba, chanson and several other styles. Back in 2022, I wrote about album closing track, “Samba de l’amour,” a breezy song featuring twinkling keys, fluttering synths, strummed acoustic guitar and gently swaying samba rhythms paired with Lima’s gorgeous vocal singing bittersweet lyrics in French and Brazilian Portuguese detailing love gained and quickly lost. 

Lima’s latest single “Meu Lugar” is a Sade/Quiet Storm-like touch on samba and Bossa nova featuring an atmospheric yet percussive arrangement with strummed acoustic guitar that serves as a lush bed for the Brazilian-French artist’s achingly tender delivery.

She explains that the song’s lyrics talk about a deep emotional delivery and the transformation of an intense and true relationship.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dabinski Shares Summery “Umama”

Sacha Dabinski is a Paris-based DJ and producer, best known as Dabinski. Inspired by Armand Van Helden, Roger Sanchez, Pablo Fierro, Sparrow & Barbossa and more, the Parisian DJ and producer’s work transports listeners to sun-drenched locales that feature bright, soulful vocals, rhythmic percussion and a blend of organic and electronic instruments to create a rich, immersive experience. His work is meant to evoke the sensation of being on a vacation, of experiencing a delightful respite from the mundanity of the everyday, filled with sunshine and joy. 

The Parisian DJ and producer closes out 2024 with “Umama,” a collaboration with Nadrums and Neyl continues a run of ebullient and summery, Afrobeats-inspired house music featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering Caribbean-like drumming, a bluesy guitar solo, and a soulful vocal paired with wildly catchy hooks. It’s a fun, summery tune that’s simultaneously club and lounge friendly.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Plumes Shares Broodingly Cinematic “Jeanne’s Visions”

Veronica Charnley is an acclaimed Montréal-born Paris-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, who is best known as the creative mastermind behind Plumes, her solo recording project that sees her drawing from contemporary pop and classical music.

Charnley’s fourth Plumes album, Many Moons Away is slated for a Friday release. The soon-to-be released album’s second and latest single “Jeanne’s Visions” is a broodingly cinematic track featuring strummed and plucked guitar, a soaring string arrangement paired with the Montréal-born, Paris-based artist’s ethereal delivery. While sonically nodding at Dark Side of the Moon-era Pink Floyd and country, the song is inspired by the story of Joan of Arc, who one afternoon while in her garden, first perceived voices, intertwined with church bells, guiding her to her calling, Charnley explains. She adds that “the arrangement uses harmonics in the guitar and viola, giving that otherworldly sound and the rhythm in the guitar during the verses is reminiscent of Jeanne’s trotting horse as she heads for battle.”

The accompanying video for “Jeanne’s Visions” features the acclaimed artist in a garden on a sun-dappled day, much like one Joan of Arc had her vision.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Pythies Return with PJ Harvey-like “I Pythie You”

Emerging Paris-based punk outfit Pythies — founding member Lise L. (vocals) with Thérèse La Garce (guitar) and Anna B. Void (drums) — was formed by Lise L. in late 2022 with the intent of starting an all-woman band. In early 2023, Lise L. met Thérèse La Garce and Anna B. Void through social media. The trio felt a very strong simpatico, rooted in the meshing of three distinct and strong personalities, and from that point on, the band’s lineup was solidified. 

The trio’s debut EP Disillusion was released last month. The EP featured “Toy,” a track that saw the French outfit further cementing a sound indebted to riot grrl-era punk and grunge, featuring fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming and enormous hooks and choruses placed within the classic grunge song structure.

Disillusion’s second and latest single “I Pythie You” is a grunge and riot grrl-inspired ripper that reminds me a bit of early PJ Harvey, The Breeders and Hole anchored around Lise L. feral delivery. “I Pythie You” is the sort of song I can picture a crowd of sweaty young people bouncing around to in a dark and dank little club somewhere. As the band explains, the song is about a place in Paris, where people rot and become shadows of themselves.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: A.K.A. Returns with a Wide-Screen, Club Friendly Banger

Paris-based sibling production and DJ duo Audio Key Architects (A.K.A)  is driven by a deep and abiding passion for electronic music and techno. The siblings’ collaborative project is guided by a shared vision of sharing what they love to create and listen to with the rest of the world.

Clocking in at seven-and-half-minutes, the French sibling duo’s latest single, “Star Lord” manages to be simultaneously cinematic and club friendly, with the song being anchored around dense layers of glistening and arpeggiated synths, tweeter and woofer rattling thump and some mind-bending melodicism. Sonically bringing Magic Sword, Giorgio Moroder, The Chemical Brothers and a lengthy list of others to mind, “Star Lord” reveals a duo that’s boldly pushing their sound in dynamic, new directions.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Paris’ Dabinski Shares Ebullient and Summery “Meyeh”

Sacha Dabinski is a Paris-based DJ and producer, best known as Dabinski. Inspired by Armand Van Helden, Roger Sanchez, Pablo Fierro, Sparrow & Barbossa and more, the Parisian DJ and producer’s work transports listeners to sun-drenched locales that feature bright, soulful vocals, rhythmic percussion and a blend of organic and electronic instruments to create a rich, immersive experience. His work is meant to evoke the sensation of being on a vacation, of experiencing a delightful respite from the mundanity of the everyday, filled with sunshine and joy.

The Parisian DJ and producer’s latest single “Meyeh” is an ebullient, Afro-Caribbean take on house music that features a looping guitar line, shuffling riddims, a strutting bass line, a bright horn line and a soulful call-and-response-like vocal paired with an incredibly catchy hook. With the nights getting cooler, it’s a reminder of sultry summer afternoons and nights at block parties, rooftop parties, barbecues and parades.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Paris’ Pythies Return with Furious “Toy”

Emerging Paris-based punk outfit Pythies — founding member Lise L. (vocals) with Thérèse La Garce (guitar) and Anna B. Void (drums) — was formed by Lise L. in late 2022 with the intent of starting an all-woman band, inspired and informed by riot grrl and grunge bands like L7, 7 Year Bitch, Babes in Toyland, Hole and her interest in witchcraft. In early 2023, Lise L. met Thérèse La Garce and Anna B. Void through social media. The trio felt a very strong simpatico, rooted in the meshing of three distinct and strong personalities, and from that point on, the band’s lineup was solidified. 

Their work frequently references Delphi oracles and resistance against the patriarchy while sonically being indebted to riot grrl grunge and punk.

Now if you were frequenting this site earlier this year, you might remember that I wrote about the French punks third single “Eclipse,” a swaggering, remarkably self-assured and polished ripper with rousingly anthemic choruses and hooks. The result sonically feels like a slick and very modern take on a familiar and beloved sound. Written around the lunar eclipse last October, “Eclipse” reveals a young band that already possesses an uncanny knack for catchy hooks.

The French trio’s fourth single “Toy” is also the first single off their forthcoming EP Disillusion, which is slated for a September release. “Toy” sees the band further cementing a sound and approach inspired and indebted to riot grrl punk and grunge, anchored around fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming, enormous hooks and choruses placed in the classic, alternating quiet, loud, quiet grunge song structure.

Written by the band’s Lise L, “Toy” ix about a friendship that has been ruined by constant objectification and sexualization — typically by a male friend. And fittingly, the song is written from the perspective of frustration, disgust and confusion.

Written, directed and edited by Éric Parois, the accompanying video for “Toy” is a Reservoir Dogs-era Tarantino-inspired visual that sees the trio, drugging and kidnapping a man they met at a pool.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Remy Bond Shares Lush, Mesmerizing “Summer Song”

Remy Bond is a 19 year-old, New York-based singer/songwriter, who spent much of her childhood living out her own version of Just Kids: She grew up at the renowned Chelsea Hotel, surrounded by music. Her obsession with the silver screen, and the washed up beauty of places like Atlantic City and Las Vegas add a nostalgic undertone to her lyrics.

Bond’s work sees her combing modern elements with her deep rooted love of the past — specifically Golden Age Hollywood — where she often retreats to write, which creates an anachronistic nostalgia, while exploring what it’s like to be a young woman — right now.

The rising young singer/songwriter’s latest single, the Jules Apollinaire co-produced, Air co-written “Summer Song” is a lush and narcoleptic bit of nostalgia-inducing bit of dream pop anchored by Bond’s silky delivery, glistening keys, twinkling synths. Written in Paris, recorded in London and finished in Los Angeles, the song specifically evokes the long bygone era of 60s glamor — but with decidedly modern sensibility that reminds me of Pavo Pavo.

“It’s very much an American song lyrically, reminiscing on the essence of the late 60s and early 70s,” Bond explains. “I have endless love for Sharon Tate & the American sweethearts of the time, but I didn’t want it to be so super apple pie, so I reached out to AIR, which bought in rich new elements and sounds, as well as my British producers, who really brought a seasoned perspective to the project.”

Directed by 16 year-old Jagger Blue, produced by Olivia Violet, and a cast of high schoolers recruited by Bond, the video is spot-on ode to the imagery and vibe of Valley of the Dolls, The Virgin Suicides and Hairspray that opens with Bond leaving her fiancé at the altar for another man.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Premier Métro Shares Sultry and Club Banging “Mascara”

Paris-based synth pop outfit Premier Métro — Dimitri, Sébastien, Alexandre and Enzo — initially specialized in a nostalgia-inducing synth driven sound that seeming drew from 80s pop, Flavien Berger, The Weeknd, and others. 

With just a handful of singles under their collective belt, the French quartet landed a slot We Love Green and an appearance on Culturebox. Since then they’ve released a handful of singles, including “Pour Quelques Secondes” and their recently released debut EP, Les autres sont touś partis.

Les autres sont touś partis was inspired and written during a nocturnal, excessive year. “In the dark, everything is experienced with greater intensity,” the French quartet explain. The EP’s latest single “Mascara” is club banger featuring tweeter and woofer rattling thump, glistening and cascading synth arpeggios paired with remarkably catchy hooks and a sultry, longing vocal. It’s the sort of song perfect for dancing and sweating your worries and concerns away for a few minutes.

Directed by Lou Dunoyer, Marion Gourvest and Mathilde Beltran, the accompanying video for “Mascara” follows drag king Power Beau Tom in the one of the most vulnerable and intimate moments of our lives — primarily at home and in front of your mirror. Then we’re at the club, watching Power Beau Tom dance with an eclectic array of humans at a night club.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: L’Imperatrice Share Intergalactic Visual for Soulful and Luxuriant “Any Way” feat. Maggie Rogers

Acclaimed Paris-based electro pop sextet and JOVM mainstays L’Impératrice  will be releasing their highly-anticipated, self-produced third full-length album Pulsar through microqlima records in just about 90 minutes. Pulsar is an album, where the band — founder Charles de Boisseguin (keys), Hagni Gown (keys), David Gaugué (bass), Achille Trocellier (guitar), Tom Daveau (drums) and Flore Benguigui (vocals) — made every decision while capturing the band’s spirit both onstage and off. 

Fittingly, the album reportedly radiates with the energy and wisdom of an outfit that has helmed countless dance parties around the world on the way to find itself and its sound. Throughout the album’s material, the Parisian JOVM mainstays move freely and authoritatively among the sounds they love, bridging hip-hop, kosmiche and modern pop with their most unabashed embraces of French Touch and international house of their growing catalog. Pulsar is also the first album of their catalog to feature guest vocalists, including acclaimed folk/pop artist Maggie Rogers and rapper/producer Erick the Architect among a list of others. 

The album sees the acclaimed pop outfit trying a new creative approach: They split into two teams of ever-interchanging members to explore new ideas, led by the band’s founder Charles de Boisseguin. It was a way of incorporating every voice into the songwriting process like never before, pulling from idiosyncratic upbringings and enthusiasm. They then passed tracks to lead vocalist Flore Benguigui, a longtime jazz singer, who would sometimes write two-dozen vocal melodies for a song, just to see which one fit best. It was an arduous and exciting process that saw the band go from writing through recording in about nine months. For L’Impératrice, this was the sort of self-determination they’d longed for and now found. 

Throughout the album’s material, the band’s Benguigui boldly sings of self-empowerment, shirking beauty standards, ageism and drag normalcy throughout the album’s material. These are apt messages for incandescent anthems of experience, of fully being yourself, instead of anyone else’s version of it. 

Pulsar’s fourth single, and the album’s second English language single “Any Way” is a gorgeous cinematic, Quiet Storm soul-meets-French touch bop featuring shimmering strings, a supple and sinuous bass line, some Nile Rodgers-like guitar, some glistening sapce age synths and twinkling Rhodes serving as a lush and dreamy bed for Maggie Rogers soulful and yearning delivery.

Rogers was a fan of L’Imperatrice before they contacted her, having seen the band’s incredible show Stateside several times. She arrived to the studio, listened to the track, took notes and nailed her version in a few hours and as many takes. At its core, the song is a luxurious and earnest love song about savoring the moment rather than fretting the future at least too much — again, and maybe for better and worse, the American way.

“The French way is that we are pretty slow people,” the band’s Charles de Boisseguin says smiling. “We really take time to make things good. But Maggie Rogers showed up and showed us her skills and the American way. it was a magical moment.” Rogers adds, “L’Impératrice has been one of my favorite bands for a few years now, so when we started talking about working together on some music, I jumped at the opportunity to travel to Paris and create with them. The song came together really naturally and effortlessly in one afternoon and I really think it represents this perfect hybrid of what we both do. I’m so happy it’s out in the world.” 

Directed by Zite and Léo, the accompanying video is an intergalactic-meets-terrestrial adventure seemingly inspired by Superman, E.T., Starman and the like, with the band playing aliens stranded after their spaceship crash lands on Earth. The aliens, who try to understand human life, get a local mechanic to assist them with repairing their spaceship. And while their spaceship is being repaired, the band calls home and watches a broadcast of Maggie Rogers singing, which fills them with longing for home — and fittingly inspires them to play alongside the broadcast.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: French Post-Punk Outfit Isolation Shares Brooding and Uneasy “Sanism”

With their Eliott Selwood-produced debut EP Creature Lies, the Rouen/Paris-based indie outfit Isolation — We Hate You Please Die‘s former frontman Raphaël Balzary, Julien, Lounès and Cheap Teen‘s Cyprien — have crafted material that draws from punk, pop, garage rock and post-punk. Thematically, the EP’s material takes a look at society’s perception of mental illness and the loneliness, ostracizing that can often result from suffering from mental illness.

Creature Lies EP‘s latest single “Sanism” is a sleek and brooding synthesis of post-punk, New Wave, goth and shoegaze anchored around angular guitar stabs, swirling synth textures paired with Balzary’s desperate howls. The song captures a narrator desperately trying to keep it together in a mad, mad, mad world — out of fear of reprisal, retribution and recrimination.

The accompanying video features still photos of the band, of someone on a medicine routine while on our stitched together to create a glitchy and unsettling bit of animation.