All Around The World: FRANCE

A new series, highlighting artists from countries around the world. First stop: France.

In celebration of my upcoming return to Paris, I’m happy to announce a new series for my Substack: All Around The World.

My other passion in life is travel, and I love listening to bands from other countries and getting an idea of what their music scene is like. It is also one of my favorite ways to practice my listening and speaking skills when I’m studying new languages.

For context, I currently live in the United States in a beautiful trash city called Philadelphia. But if you’ve had any interaction with me in real life or online, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of international bands at all levels, and constantly have FOMO when I see a new festival lineup drop overseas. So in this series, I would love to discuss some active bands in countries around the globe, at various [streaming]¹ ranks. I’ll do my best to indicate what cities they’re based out of, barring anything lost in translation.

Without further adieu, let’s kick it off with some of my favorite indie, dance/electronic, and rock artists from France.

French Indie

One of France’s greatest exports (aside from wine, cheese, and pastries) is indie music. Bands like Phoenix, Stereolab, and L’Imperatrice have found great global success and charted well in the United States. Through my new music discovery expeditions, I’ve found that there is a great indie pop scene emerging in cities like Paris and Marseille, bringing back nostalgia of late 00’s sounds.

SOCIAL DANCE

Marseille

I discovered this band after impulsively buying tickets to Rock en Seine in 2023 to see one of my favorite bands, Foals. It was my first international festival, and I was excited to check out some French bands on the lineup. I immediately fell in love with their upbeat pop sound and playful nature. When I checked out their midday set, I also confirmed their great stage presence and ability to get a crowd grooving. Their tracks incorporate both French and English lyrics, and they’ve had songs featured on my guilty pleasure show, Emily In Paris.

For Fans Of: The Naked and The Famous, Talking Heads, The Vaccines

Spotlight Track: “Sometimes”

Juniore

Paris

Gabbie at

New Bands for Old Heads

put me onto this indie avant-pop band that has established a good following. Defining as “yé-yé noir”, this band incorporates the popular genre of 60’s French music, yé-yé, deriving from the popular British beat music bands of that decade. The noir aspect comes in with some darker sounds, and a delivery that would be perfectly at home on a film soundtrack.

For Fans Of: Cat Power, La Femme, Jefferson Airplane, Gillian Hills

Spotlight Track: “Monumental”