Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains - Banane Bleue (2021) [Hi-Res]

Banane Bleue (French for "Blue Banana") is a nomadic and truly European record, hailing from rented workspaces in some of the continent's key cities - Berlin, Athens and Paris - and recorded with instruments that were often borrowed from likeminded musicians. Written solely by Francois Marry himself, close collaborator and Weird World artist Jaakko Eino Kalevi was enlisted for production duties whilst Renaud Letang (Feist, Gonzales, Connan Mockasin) mixed the album. The title of the album is taken from the 'blue banana' concept, a geographical theory that groups together a corridor of Europe's biggest cities, originally conceived in the 1980s. The theory states that the blurring of these cities' boundaries has resulted in the formation of one massive, interconnected megalopolis. Expanding on the theory, Francois poetised it, picturing a luminescent blue banana shape that you can see from space with vibrant, ethereal currents that surround and bind us. It explores common cultural and romantic ground, creating an album full of missed meetings and misunderstandings.