Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls

St Germain (aka Ludovic Navarre), whose albums Boulevard (1995) and Tourist (2000) originated a genre of French electronic music that later included artists like Daft Punk and Air, has returned to the studio to create his first album in 15 years. The self-titled record marries percussive grooves, which have always been central to St Germain’s sound, with a new element: traditional Malian music. The artist reveals the album’s first track, “Real Blues,” which is available to download now with pre-orders of the album on iTunes and nonesuch.com. Composed, produced, recorded and mixed by Navarre at his Paris studio, the Magic House, and mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road, “Real Blues” features a vocal sample from Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “You Caused My Heart to Weep” and instrumental contributions from Afro-Brazilian percussionist Jorge Bezerra, Malian kora player Mamadou Cherif Soumano, Malian guitarist and n’goni player Guimba Kouyate, and keyboardist and longtime St Germain collaborator Didier Davidas, from Martinique. St Germain’s move closer to the source of the jazz and blues elements that were essential ingredients in Boulevard and the internationall... more...