Brighton preview: VIVE LA FRANCE! @ The Hope Thursday 26 January

Thursday’s show at The Hope is presented by French taste-makers Les Inrockuptibles and will see Polarsets, College, Air Bag One (pictured) and JD the DJ (of Les Inrock) all perform.

Polarsets aren’t actually French, but are signed to Kitsune, the French label renowned for their indie-pop spotting abilities and home to the likes of Delphic and Two Door Cinema Club.

They played the BBC’s Introducing stage at the Big Weekend last year and have been fast gaining support since. They’ve also taken their sunshine indie-pop on the road supporting Ellie Goulding, Fenech Soler, Everything Everything and, naturally, Two Door Cinema Club.

They’ve already won over a lot of people, perhaps their upbeat dance-floor friendly beats will win you over too.

Whilst College may have the least internet-friendly name going (try searching it) he is actually French, which brings him back into favour. That said, you wouldn’t necessarily come to that conclusion by listening to his electro-synth music. His songs aren’t given French names and rarely feature lyrics. If they do they’re English…

The most notable example of this, and probably most popular work, is The Real Hero with its English lyrics. It was recorded with Canada’s Electric Youth and featured on the soundtrack for Drive, the dark American film starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan.

Darker still, well, stranger at least, is his album Northern Council which is a sort of analogue cacophony full of abruptly ending emptiness. Well, come along and see what you think!

Parisian Trio Air Bag One bring us back to slightly more familiar ground with their Maccabees approved indie-pop. Loris, Jyps and Cyprien sing in English but their sound isn’t without its quirks. They’ll be releasing their mix tape later this year and are well worth a listen.

JD, music editor of French culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles and DJ, will be on decks to deliver some well informed beats from across the channel.

Vive La France: The Hope @ 8pm: Polarsets, College, Air Bag One and JD the DJ

Originally published on Brighton and Hove Free Press.

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