Banane Bleue

About

In the late 1980s, French geographer Roger Brunet proposed the idea of “the blue banana”—a theoretical curved corridor stretching from North West Wales to Northern Italy that followed areas of particularly high population density in Western Europe. The idea was that this hypothetical region was a “European backbone” consisting of important trade routes and areas of economic importance. Frànçois Marry, who has been leading the indie-pop troupe Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains since their formation in 2005, has an altogether more romantic outlook on the concept. He sees the blue banana—or, in his native French, <i>la banane bleue</i>—as a shape that “you can see from space with vibrant, ethereal currents that surround and bind us.” It’s this notion of interconnected, boundaryless areas that has inspired <i>Banane Bleue</i>, the group’s seventh album and their first since 2018’s <i>Fleurs du Mal</i>. There’s an ease and lightness that permeate the record’s 10 tracks, from the breezy “Holly Golightly” to the singsong “Coucou.” Throughout, the band’s signature sweet folk-pop melodies shine through. Mixed by Renaud Letang—who has collaborated with Feist and Connan Mockasin, among others—the nomadic <i>Banane Bleue</i> imagines a world without borders, where identity is based on ideas and values rather than birthplace.

via Apple Music