In another fine year for French releases, it’s been heartening to note that music heads in the UK and Ireland are becoming increasingly aware of how vital the French underground scene is, and just recently I’ve experienced the delights of Rockfort favourites Emmanuelle Parrenin, Société Étrange and Megabasse live on these shores. Earlier this year, it was also a joy to catch mighty, Marseille-based industrial punks GrRzZz at the Acid Horse festival in Wiltshire (and have a very pleasantly sozzled conversation with them afterwards) and chat with electronic power trio FOUDRE! ahead of a UK tour with Franco-Italian duo Zohastre.
Other aspects of the French approach to music, and the arts more generally, have been spreading too. Within the British music industry, there are a few details that people are broadly aware of regarding the way things operate in France, like the quotas stipulating that a certain percentage of songs played on the radio must be in French (the actual proportion depends on the kind of radio station), or the ‘intermittence du spectacle’ system which provides unemployment insurance for artists. The latter has its flaws, but it contributes greatly to the valorisation of the arts and artists, and Ireland might just be going one better now with its successfully trialled and less restrictive BIA (Basic Income for Artists) scheme.
One facet of the French system that has been getting particular attention is the tax on concert ticket sales, raising revenue which is redistributed by the CNM – Centre National de la Musique, a public body created in 2020 –to support venues, promoters and touring artists. Dan McCarthy’s article on the push for a £1 ticket levy in the UK to support grassroots venues makes it clear that, while French-style top-down measures are in no way a panacea, a tax on tickets for arena and stadium shows would be hugely beneficial. (Full disclosure: among other things, I do some work for the CNM in the UK, so seeing it mentioned on The Quietus felt a little like unexpectedly spying your line manager in a sweaty club at 3am.)
On the other hand, let’s hope that no-one here will be taking their cues from former French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, who has recently unveiled a song, ‘Comme Une Femme’ (‘Like A Woman’), based on a poem by Rimbaud and written with the help of AI. We don’t want Michael Gove, Ed Balls or Gavin Williamson getting any ideas.
Returning to this year’s releases now, it is my self-imposed duty to compile a list of 20 French albums from this year that I think you, a discerning Quietus reader, should hear. As ever, I don’t make any claims as to the definitiveness of the selection, which is skewed by my prevailing passions and which, agonisingly, necessarily, omits many releases that I have enjoyed as much as those presented below. Hopefully, this list – which encompasses new ‘trad’ sounds, underground rap, lush avant-pop, ambient, guitar noise, gothic drones and more – will encourage further exploration of the French fringes.
David McKenna’s 10 Favourite French Albums Of 2025
Rien VirguleBerceuses Des Deux MondesZamzamrec / Permafrost / Murailles Music / La République des Granges
The trio’s fourth album, another double after 2021’s La Consolation Des Violettes, is an even more monumental production. Its darkly gleaming synth surfaces, chord sequences like gothic staircases, traces of folk and jazz and Anne Careil’s deeply plaintive vocals, open up a portal into a world of cosmic horror and the bleakest of fairytales. Spellbinding.
FranceDestino ScifosiStandard in-Fi / a1000p
While all of France’s releases are essentially live recordings, their latest is the most ‘produced’ to date, with sterling work from producer Mim making this their densest, rockingest to date; a driving, drone-folk monster.
Le DiouckGrace Joke
A joint release from PAN and the new label founded by rapper Lala &ce, Franco-Senegalese musician and graphic novelist Le Diouck’s hugely impressive debut showcases his elastic vocals and eclectic sensibilities to dazzling effect, switching between French, English and Wolof and effortlessly incorporating dembow, cumbia, rock, trap and R&B.
Nina GarciaBye Bye BirdIdeologic Organ
With this first album released under her own name, experimental guitarist Nina Garcia makes use of an electromagnetic pickup to aid in explorations that are beautifully poised between melody and clangorous atonality. Her release with turntablist Arnaud Rivière, under the name Autotunes, is also highly recommended.
Èlg Et La ChimieImmense Éboulis RougeMurailles Music / La République Des Granges
This is Laurent Gérard’s rock album, recorded with a ‘proper’ band, and maybe his most accessible, but it still walks its own peculiar path, taking in haunting melodies and moments of explosive energy and angularity.
Agathe MaxLa Touche FrancheAs It Hears
Violinist and prolific collaborator Max, who’s from near Lyon but based in London, gathers various friends together to help with an album that opens up new vistas for her music. Combining instrumental and vocal contributions with library record samples and field recordings, it’s both dreamy and engaged, and glimmers with optimism.
Ludu DuAr BambocherienBecoq / Cool Raoul / Animal Biscuit / Potagers Natures / Grammaire Vacante
This wonderful full-length début from the Breton duo reimagines traditional Breton songs, capturing spare-but-imaginative arrangements in the raw, sometimes recording outside, and adding a twist of surreal humour.
Clément VercellettoL’EngouleventUn Je-ne-sais-quoi
The delightfully unique sounds on L’Engoulevent emanate from a small, portable organ, created by luthier Léo Maurel at the request of Vercelletto, that uses birdcalls rather than standard pipes. And some tracks were recorded in a wine silo. It’s a curious but oddly comforting creation.
Sebastien ForresterCoruscate (For Metal Percussion)Dense Truth
The composer, producer and percussionist derived this four-part work from music accompanying an exhibition by US artist Erin O’Keefe. Employing vibraphone, cymbals, tuned bells and thunder sheets, Forrester’s is a deeply meditative and physically engaging work.
Puce MomentSans SoleilParenthèses
Lille’s Puce Moment – the duo of Pénélope Michel and Nico Devos – spent time recording with the Gagaku Music Society of Tenri, in the suburbs of Japan’s ancient capital Nara, and the result is a stately, intensely focused procession of wavering drones, flickering vocals and reverb-soaked Gagaku percussion, string and wind instruments.
