Marseille-based electro pop artist French 79, aka Simon Henner, just released an intimate video for "Code Zero," premiered on Earmilk. Simon explains the track, also a reference to his passion for sailing: "It's about how I find a path, how I use my music compass to move forward." It follows previous videos for "By Your Side" (ft. Sarah Rebecca), "Hold On" and "Hometown" (premiered on Billboard with 600,000+ YouTube views), calling to mind the worlds of Stranger Things and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The French artist's new album, Joshua is out this Friday, November 8 on Alter K.
Watch "Code Zero" below!
In 2014, electro-argonaut French 79 landed on a French scene that quickly became international. After releasing a synthetic and contemplative first EP Angel and full-length Olympic, Simon is now ready to share his newest album Joshua.
Instead of moving forward in time, he is going back. "I use a musical palette that plunges me back into my teenage films: the synth sounds of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jacques Cousteau's fascinating documentaries on the marine world, the melodies of François De Roubaix, the moods of films like Blade Runner," Simon says.
Inspired by the cinematic sounds of Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Soft Machine, Simon remembers recording soundtracks from TV movies so that he could listen to them later. Each song on this new album evokes a lived-in moment, relationship or experience during Simon's childhood. Also featured on some of the tracks is Paris-based singer Sarah Rebecca from Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Whether it was boating, walking around his city or climbing the Alpine mountains, Simon drew together all of his influences to what he calls "the power of music, the ability it has to make you enter a completely different world of reality." French 79 is also the most synced artist on his label, with music in TV series Russian Doll, Gotham and Now Apocalypse, plus syncs with Red Bull, Jimmy Choo, Yves St Laurent and a massive Cadillac campaign out now.
