The French will be on the march again in 2014 as the unconventional pop of Francois & The Atlas Mountains comes to the UK for a short series of tour dates. Building on their 2012 album, E Volo Love, the band of four will be winding their way through the UK to remind us not to forget about their wacky charm and catchy Gallic pop sounds and Arabic beats with a brief tour with five stop offs along the way.
The tour is a micro prelude to what they’ve got up their sleeves for the rest of 2014 as they’re currently in the studio working on their follow up to E Volo Love. The upcoming, as yet unnamed album will be their 4th record, although their debut, The People To Forget, was mostly live recordings, so it will sort of be their 3rd full studio outing.
For anyone that missed the 2012 album, you can take a listen to the lead track, Les Plus Beaux, at our single review page, but be prepared for the mentalness of jazz hands bum face in the video because it’ll freak you out. It’s a classic French pop track with a light hearted melody and Arabia-inspired drum beats, which makes for a very infectious combination, especially with surreal music video as a backdrop.
The mini tour will see the now Bristol based band take in the heady sights of London at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, The Lantern in Bristol, Liverpool at Leaf, Glasgow’s Stereo and Manchester’s The Roundhouse (see full 2014 tour date details below). Depending on the release date of the new album, we might see a larger tour for Francois et al later on in 2014, but either way there are bound to be a few festival dates added to the mix as line- ups get finalised.
Francois & The Atlas Mountains is headed up by French musician, Francois Marry, who formed the band after relocating from his home-town La Rochelle to Bristol in 2003. While their first two albums were released through Fence, E Volo Love saw them move to Domino Records, which will also be their label for their new album when it’s complete.
Francois & The Atlas Mountains 2014 UK tour dates:
26th March 2014 – London, Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
27th March 2014 – Bristol, The Lantern (previously Colston Hall 2)
28th March 2014 – Liverpool, Leaf
29th March 2014 – Glasgow, Stereo
30th March 2014 – Manchester, The Roadhouse
