The Great Escape, the European’s leading Festival for new music , takes place in Brighton this year from 16-18 May, with 350 new artists across 30 venues.

It’s a vintage year for French music at The Great Escape in Brighton this year. Have a look at the line-up and listen to the artists on Spotify!

TOMORROW’S WORLD
Thu 16th May / Digital / 20:00

WE WERE EVERGREEN
Thu 16th May / The Metro Hub / 16:00
Thu 16th May / Dome Concert Hall / 20:00

MELODY’S ECHO CHAMBER
Thu 16th May / Corn Exchange / 23:15

OWLLE
Thu 16th May / Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar / 23:45

JC SATAN
Fri 17th May / The Hope / 20:30

AUFGANG
Fri 17th May / St. Bartholomew’s Church / 21:45

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY
Fri 17th May / Queens Hotel Stage / 14:45
Sat 18th May / Concorde 2 / 19:45

CONCRETE KNIVES
Sat 18th May / Queens Hotel Stage /
French Music Office Party / 12:30
Sat 18th May / Audio / 20:00

CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS
Sat 18th May / Queens Hotel Stage /
French Music Office Party / 13:30
Sat 18th May / Queens Hotel Stage / 20:30

GIRLS IN HAWAII
Sat 18th May / Queens Hotel Stage /
French Music Office Party / 14:30
Sat 18th May / The Brighthelm Centre / 22:30

UNNO
Sat 18th May / Green Door Store / 12:30

ARCHIPEL
Sat 18th May / Old Ship Paganini Ballroom / 13:30
Sun 19th May / Green Door Store / 01:00

THE PENELOPES
Sat 18th May / Queens Hotel Stage / 19:45
Sun 19th May / Blind Tiger / 01.45
FRENCH MUSIC OFFICE PARTY*

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FRENCH MUSIC OFFICE PARTY*

LIVE: CONCRETE KNIVES + CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS + GIRLS IN HAWAII (music starts at 12.30pm)

Sat 18th May / Queens Hotel Stage / 12:30 – 15:00
* In association with Les Inrockuptibles.

+ PARTY: DELEGATES-ONLY NETWORKING DRINKS**
15:00-16:00 in the Queens Hotel bar
**In association with Pernod Ricard.

Get your tickets HERE!

In France, Benjamin Biolay requires no introduction – since the release his acclaimed debut, 2002’s Rose Kennedy (which bagged him a Victoires de la Musique award) he’s been one of France’s most prolific and versatile songwriters, arrangers and producers, releasing a string of successful albums under his own name as well as working with a cast of glamorous female singers including Vanessa Paradis, Keren Ann, Carla Bruni and ex-wife Chiara Mastroianni.  Little wonder he’s been hailed as the ‘new Gainsbourg’ and, although he might have a reputation as something of a dandy, like Gainsbourg he’s also deadly serious about his craft. The supremely confident Vengeance, out on 6 May follows on the heels of his double album La Superbe, which sold 100,000 copies in France within weeks of its release. Here, Vanessa Paradis makes an appearance on single ‘Profite’ but guests also include rapper Oxmo Puccino The Libertines Carl Barât (who was a big fan of La Superbe), highlighting Biolay’s love of UK pop and rock. Vengeance is as eclectic as ever but each track bears the unique stamp of an artist at the peak of his powers.

Benjamin Biolay is playing his first UK headline show at the Union Chapel on 27 June – TICKETS HERE and you can also go to our Competitions page to try to win a pair.

Also out today is the new live album from dance behemoths Justice, Access All Arenas – just the perfect thing while you’re waiting for the Daft Punk album to drop. The 14-track album was recorded on July 19, 2012 at Les Arènes de Nimes, as part of a global tour which lasted almost a year, and features classics including ‘D.A.N.C.E’ and ‘Waters of Nazareth’.

This year’s Liverpool Sound City takes place from 2-4 May and features a number of fantastic, fast-rising French acts.

If you’re attending, you can fall for the charms of electro-torch singer of the moment, Christine and the Queens,the indefatigable Concrete Knives and the psychedelic pop bliss of Melody’s Echo Chamber (pictured above), as well as sparkly electro-poppers The Penelopes, Lolito’s psychotically saccharine pop-rock and north-west France’s answer to Fleet Foxes, Clockwork of the Moon.

The Penelopes

2nd May @ Heebie Jeebies, 7pm

Lolito

2nd May @ Leaf Cafe, 7.15pm

Clockwork of the Moon

2nd May @ Kazimier Gardens, 7.15pm

Christine and the Queens

2nd May @ Kazimier Gardens, 11.15pm

Concrete Knives

3rd May @ Art Academy, 8pm

3rd May @ Kazimier Gardens, 11.15pm

Melody’s Echo Chamber

3rd May @ The Kazimier, 10.45pm

There’s still time to bag tickets for Julien Clerc‘s show on 8th May at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

Clerc returns to London with his new Pianistic show which, after a series of concerts given with a full-blown symphonic orchestra, sees him stripping down his approach and taking to the stage accompanied by two pianos. A chance to experience the iconic singer-songwriter, who once received five gold discs in one year (1974), at his most musically intimate.

She’s live at Queen Elizabeth Hall on 6 June.

http://loudoillon.fr/

Miss Kittin’s Calling from the Stars sees the international star showcasing two distinct sides to her sound. The first half sees her on fine dance –pop form with the likes of addictive lead single ‘Bassline’  and a cover of REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ before CD2 takes her in a more minimal techno-orientated direction, reminding us that Hervé is also a highly respected DJ.

And don’t forget : she’ll be playing at the XOYO on the 1st of May ! More info here. (And we still have a pair of tickets to offer in our Competitions area above)

http://www.misskittin.com/

Moussu T aka Tatou is the founder member of legendary Marseille reggae band Massilia Sound System but over several albums with Lei Jovents – Artemis is their fifth – he has followed his muse down a different path, one combining pop with Mediterranean blues, and singing in both French and Occitan. Artemis, released today, is the group’s most bluesy album to date, and also the one with the strongest acoustic feel, but the songs remain anchored in the landscape of Marseille –  the ocean, the port – and the characters inhabiting it.

The band are playing live at Cottons in Islington on 2nd May

http://moussut.ohaime.com/

Last but not least, following a triumphant show at the Coachella festival, Phoenix release their highly anticipated Bankrupt! album today. It’s the follow-up to the Versailles four-piece’s breakthrough album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, for which they earned a Grammy award. Rest assured, it’s as catchy and well-crafted as ever.

Launched in 2011 at the Institut Français, the BD & Comics Passion festival has become London’s key comic book event. The festival includes two ‘Drawing Jam’ sessions on Friday 31 May: La Grande Sophie and GiedRé will be performing in the company of illustrators who will try to echo their music, voices and striking lyrics in artwork improvised on the spot! Their drawings will be projected behind them on the screen of the Institut’s cinema, the Ciné Lumière – how will the artists’ pencils keep up?

La Grande Sophie might not be instantly familiar in the UK, but she’s been making waves in France since 1997. She is the winner of two Victoires de la Musique awards (the equivalent of the Brits), including one for 2012’s La Place du Fantôme, which set the bar higher than ever with its inspired fusion of rock, pop and chanson.

GiedRé’s faux-naïve stage persona allows her to probe the limits of taste and decency while never being anything less than charming. Her songs that cover subjects others are simply too well-behaved, or too easily embarrassed, to touch, like contraception, worms and bodily functions. This adults-only show will see GiedRé and the illustrators embarking on a witty exploration of erotic themes.

Tickets for La Grande Sophie here

Tickets for GiedRé here

Go to both shows for only £15 – Tickets here

It’s a good day for lovers of French chanteuses, with new releases arriving from Carla Bruni and Françoise Hardy.

On Little French Songs Bruni makes a successful  return to the charmingly intimate songwriting that she was known for – her debut album, Quelqu’un M’a Dit sold 2 million copies – before the time spent in the limelight as Nicolas Sarkozy’s spouse. It does feature a tribute to her husband (‘Mon Raymond’) but also to Gitanes, Keith Richards and to the greats of French chanson like Brel, Gainsbourg and Piaf.

Meanwhile, the eternally melancholic Françoise Hardy, who will be 70 next year, is going through a particularly productive phase at the moment – L’Amour Fou was released in France just two years after La Pluie Sans Parapluie and it’s another strong and stately collection of mostly piano-led ballads. It also nearly won her a Victoires de la Musique award this year – only a career-best record from La Grande Sophie stood in her way. L’Amour Fou is the ‘soundtrack’ to a novel also written by Hardy, a poignant exploration of love in all its permutations – ‘L’Enfer et le Paradis’ as she puts it one song – and, like all the singer’s finest work, it’s understated but profoundly in tune with the rhythms of the heart.

The new duo featuring Air man Jean-Benoît Dunckel and New Young Pony Club’s Lou Hayter garnered a lot of attention last year with the track ‘So Long My Love’ making its way on to Radio One and 6Music with its girl group melodies and electro-pop pulse. They’ll get even more now with an eponymous debut album out now on Republic of Music, which reveals the full breadth of their retro-futurist vision. ‘So Long My Love’ turns out to be the most aggressive track, with its bursts of bit-crushed synth, although ‘You Taste Sweeter’ almost matches it for steely appeal.On ‘Drive’, meanwhile, Hayter is an icy goddess on a highway but the predominant mood is one of nocturnal reverie, with Lou the little girl lost floating through milky synthscapes, particularly on the stunning ‘Think Of Me’ and ‘Don’t Let Them Bring You Down’.

Tomorrow’s World will be visitng UK shores for two dates in May, don’t miss your chance to see them perform live:

15th May – ICA, London

16th May – The Great Escape Festival, Brighton