Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter has released a new solo album, Mirage, through the French classical music label Erato.The eight-track composition marks another chapter in a solo career that has steadily taken the legendary electronic music producer away from the dancefloor and toward the concert hall.
In 2023, Bangalter released Mythologies, an instrumental score composed for the ballet of the same name at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, marking his first full-length project following the shocking split of Daft Punk.Mirage was originally conceived as a performance for 16 dancers at Geneva’s Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, according to a press release, and conceptualized in collaboration with the Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet and the Japanese contemporary artist Kōhei Nawa.
Over time, the piece grew beyond its origins as theatrical accompaniment and has now been shaped into a “standalone masterpiece of electronic minimalism,” per Erato, which operates out of Bangalter’s hometown of Paris.Bangalter is said to have pulled inspiration from the Greek-French composer Iannis Xenakis, whose avant-garde work pioneered the use of mathematical structures and architectural thinking in 20th music.
Like Xenakis, he took a “sculptural approach” to the album by treating sound as a physical substance to be shaped and organized.In other Bangalter news, he’s teamed up with Keinemusik’s Rampa for ‘Warehouse Artefacts,’ a large-scale “immersive experience” during Art Basel.
The event is scheduled to debut at the Swiss convention center Messe Basel on June 20th, roughly two weeks after the release of Mirage.You can listen to Mirage below and find the new release on streaming platforms here....