Thomas Bangalter, co-founder of Daft Punk, releases his first solo album: "Mythologies"

Loane Nader 08:59, 07 April 2023

Never have other electronic music artists matched the legendary Daft Punk duo, and their separation has left a big void in many of their fans. But its co-founder Thomas Bangalter returns to the front of the stage with a very good news, announced at the microphone of France inter, that of the release of his very first solo album named "Mythologies". And this return is made with a choice for the least surprising: classical music.

This new work was conceived to accompany that of Anfelin Preljocaj, dancer and choreographer at the Opéra National de Bordeaux. The eponymous ballet will focus, as its name suggests, on "contemporary rituals and founding myths that shape the collective imagination". It is therefore a risk for Thomas Bangalter, who had accustomed his audience to more electro sounds. But for the musician, this proposal is less foolish than it seems.

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"My mother was a dancer"

"I had, with Daft Punk, the opportunity to work with orchestras, for the music of the film Tron: The Heritage and also on our last album, but I wanted for a long time to rub shoulders with the exercise of orchestration," he recalls. Thomas Bangalter also has a special relationship with gender. "I have a relationship with dance and orchestra that comes from afar because my mother was a dancer. My uncle and aunt too," he said. "And when I was little, I took piano lessons with a teacher who was a coach at the Opera, it was part of my life."

"At that time, I had the will to put the machines aside."

Daft Punk co-founder Thomas Bangalter is back for "Mythologies", symphonic album, soundtrack of Angelin Preljocaj's dance ballet. #le7930interpic.twitter.com/O5cLDXfMs0

— France Inter (@franceinter) April 5, 2023

However, choreographer Anfelin Preljocaj had asked the French composer to bring a touch of electroacoustics to the project, an idea he preferred to forget to devote himself to an exclusively instrumental score, in order to "get out of his comfort zone". "I've felt like I've been questioning my relationship with technology and its place in my creative process for a long time. I wanted to put the machines aside a little bit to experiment with the orchestra."

The themes of minotaur, wrestling and Covid-19

In the album "Mythologies", the themes explored will be as varied as anachronistic: the minotaur, the Amazons, the gorgonians, but also wrestling, Covid-19 and war! And if the former Daft Punk has indeed turned the page of his years in a silver helmet, he remembers it with enthusiasm. "With Daft Punk we made four albums in 28 years and each record had a different starting point and different techniques. It was like stepping into a new world every time."