Kit Sebastian

Here's an excellent new track from London-based duo Kit Sebastian that finds the band in their usual mix of world pop, Turkish psych, and French Ye-Ye music.  Listen to "Certain Things You Can't Explain (I'll Just Let Myself Go)" below and download the single here from Brainfeeder.

RIP Françoise Hardy

RIP to a fashion icon and an unbelievable hip woman.  RIP to the original Ye-Ye girl.  Farewell to an absolute all-timer and one of my favorite voices of all time, the indelible Françoise Hardy.

Daily Jam - Il Est Trop Loin

“Cause Doris Day could never make me cheer up quite the way those French girls always do.”

I open with a lyric from the great Neil Hannon and his baroque pop band The Divine Comedy because he’s really onto something. There is a certain mystique surrounding French women that pervades so many aspects of our pop culture, and I am certainly not immune to the allure. Whether it’s the smoking, cool, and flirty aloofness of the women portrayed in any number of French New Wave films, the pouty and detached chic of the country’s fashionistas, or the throngs of yé-yé girls making music over the last half century, I am so there. And I have been smitten with original yé-yé girl Françoise Hardy for the better part of 20 years.

With a range of material spanning decades, and in different languages, it can be a tad daunting to dive into the musical works of Mlle. Hardy. As a fan, even I haven’t been able to traverse everything, but I always seem to be able to stumble across something I’ve never heard before…and that new (to me) song tends to become my obsession for a while. In 2017, i found myself looping “Il Est Trop Loin,” from the artist’s 1967 album Ma Jeunesse Fout L’Camp, and it may be my favorite thing that Françoise Hardy ever recorded. The song, which loosely translates to “It Is Too Far,” is a reworking of Peter, Paul, and Mary’s “Sorrow,” itself a reworking of the traditional American folk song “Man of Constant Sorrow,” originally penned by Dick Burnett. Featuring Hardy’s almost mournful vocals laid over a plucked electric guitar, a minimal tambourine beat, and a rising wave of soft strings and choir voices, “Il Est Trop Loin” sounds like the psych-tinged lament of a lonely soul, the world hanging heavy. It’s a wonderful interpretation of a song that’s now over a century old.

Those French girls will continue to cheer me up, to amaze me.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Fleur

Here's some throwback '60s psychedelia and French Ye-Ye girl pop from Dutch artist Fleur.  "Chanson d'automne" sounds like a dusty old record picked up on a whim in a record store on a cloudy day.  Just lovely.  Check it out below and get the artist's "Bouquet Champetre" LP here.

Daily Jam - Voila

It seems like i've spent the last 25 years discovering the music of Francoise Hardy, first hearing of her long, long ago when she appeared on a track by Blur.  And then providing vocals on a B-side for Air (which happens to be one of my all time favorite songs).  So i gradually began finding her stuff, listening to a track or album here or there.  And i loved it all.  Then in 2011, Alex Zhang Hungtai, under his Dirty Beaches moniker sampled Hardy's "Voila" for his great track "Lord Knows Best."  I was completely and utterly hooked after that, clamoring for any and all of the music Hardy has lent her lovely voice to.  Listen to the transcendent "Voila" below, our Daily Jam.

Claude Fontaine

Innovative Leisure's latest signee is LA artist Claude Fontaine, and at her first at bat, the singer combines elements of reggae, dub, and Ye-Ye style French pop into the lovely single "Cry for Another."  Listen to the song below and download it here from the label.

Laure Briard

It's no secret around here that we are deep in the pockets of French pop, so it's wonderful news that we've got a new album from Laure Briard heading our way in February.  The "Un peu plus d'amour s'il vous plait" LP finds the artist mixing Ye-Ye indebted French pop with some kosmische psychedelia and some world and bossa nova flavors.  Listen to album opener "Marin Solitaire" below and pre-order the record here from Midnight Special.

Laure Briard

French singer Laure Briard first came to my attention a couple of years ago with the artist's wonderful "Sur la Piste de Danse" LP, and now she's got a new EP of Ye-Ye influenced psychedelia for our listening pleasure, this time around with a hint of Tropicalia in the mix as well.  Listen to "Coração Louco" below and get the album here from Midnight Special.