French dream pop duo Fleur bleu·e follow up to their 2022 EP STAR with another foggy and delightfully melancholic song. Written for a close friend who was in great psychological distress, “She Wants to Live” is an ode to life addressed to the people who experienced mental health disorders in their life.

“She Wants to Live” is also the first single off of their upcoming, yet to be detailed debut record Unrequited Love, which they describe as a songbook for the broken hearted.

Fleur bleu·e are a Paris-based duo keen on merging the warm and ethereal sounds of Anglo-American indie pop with the all-cards-on-the-table frankness of the French chanson. For the past few months, Fleur bleu·e have been cutting their teeth in small venues in France, refining their sound and amassing a dedicated following. Now, they’re ready to take the next step. Recently signed by Pan European, the band is now set to release its debut EP Star, out today. After teasing the EP with the songs “Son Visage” and “Pyjama Princess” (10/10 title), Fleur bleu·e are now pushing the lovely “Les Étoiles” as a single.

Ripe with tasteful melodies and jangly guitar licks, “Les Étoiles” is a delightful pop song that showcases its writers’ knack for creating bright, charming tunes with heft and staying power. There’s an early-Smiths quality to this song, and not just in its reverb-soaked instrumentation. The bass takes on the function of a rhythm guitar, while the lead effectively becomes a second singer, adding stitches of melody without taking up too much space. It’s a gorgeous song, and the cheeky Françoise Hardy-like vocals are only the cherry on top of it all.

The band has also put out a music video directed by Ludoviz Azémar. Shot in 16mm, it follows a young woman’s sojourn in Northern France. It’ll make you feel like wanting to live inside an Éric Rohmer film forever, which is as good as a November pick-me-up can possibly get.

Following up on “Maddy La Nuit,” French elusive synth-pop guru Flavien Berger has just unveiled a video for a track taken from his brand new album Contre-Temps. According to the artist, “Castelmaure” is a song about “change, time travel, contre forme communication.” The clip was directed by Belgian artist Marine Dricot. About the video, he explained to Clash where it was premiered:

[su_quote]I met Marine ‘Bilou’ Dricot in Brussels, and I already loved her work with music videos. She eventually became a friend, due to the stories we shared together, Then became necessary to create something out of it. She is a tender symbolist, that intertwines mental, absurd and surreal images with glimpses of truth.[/su_quote]

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In between psychedelic and synth-pop, Flavien Berger has become in a few years only one of the most exciting artists of the French new scene. Even if we haven’t posted a lot about him so far -which is a pity we agree- we carefully follow the path of this poet from our modern times. Ahead of the release of his new album in September, he has just shared a brand new track. The bouncy-but-melancholic, crepuscular new single “Maddy La Nuit” is a mysterious offering which deals with love and technology. It comes with Jeanne Frenkel and Cosme Castro-directed visuals that you can watch below.

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Flavien Berger will be playing at the Botanique in Brussels on November 22. Get your tickets there, and pre-order his new album.