5 Francophone Artists You NEED to Listen To NOW

Hey Au Pairs!

One of the best ways to learn a new language is through music! It's a great way to further develop your listening skills and practice the phonetics of the language through singing! As a student I took a phonetics class and one of the most fun activities we would do in class was sing Spanish music together in order to practice producing sounds in the Spanish language! So, why not download some French music to improve your language skills?

In no particular order here are 5 French speaking musicians you need to listen:

1.Vendredi Sur Mer

Charline Mignot, better known as Vendredi Sur Mer is one of my favorite artists! Hailing from Switzerland, she is known for producing catchy indie-pop music! Some of her biggest hits are Chewing Gum and Écoute Chérie. I had the honor of seeing her live in concert while on a visit to Barcelona back in 2020, before the pandemic. Her voice has been described by some as sultry and melancholy. She sings about female desires, love and hardships. I’ve learned a lot of new French words through listening to her music!

2.Therapie Taxi

Knowing I was looking to improve my French skills, my boyfriend recommended Therapie Taxi to me. He knew I was into electro-pop music and thought I would appreciate this band’s energetic and upbeat tunes, and I did! In addition to their primarily electro-pop genre they like to mix in hip-hop and rock into their musical stylings. I recommend checking out the songs Candide Crush and Salope(e).

3.Claire Laffut

If you’re looking for a smooth and silky voice to lull you into a French trance look no further! When not singing captivating songs, this Belgian beauty Claire Laffut is also a model and painter! She has even been the face of Chanel for a campaign back in 2018! Her most famous song by far is called Vérité, and let me say that the song’s music video is absolute perfection! It even features English subtitles built into the music video! It’s aesthetically pleasing from start to finish!

4.Angèle

At some point during your French language journey you’re bound to come across Angèle! Like Claire Lafutt, Angèle hails from Belgium. Her first album Brol, made her a breakout artist in 2018 and she hasn’t stopped producing hits since! One of my favorite songs by her has to be Balance Ton Quoi which is about denouncing sexism and advocating educating people on equality for all genders. The music video for this song takes on a humorous approach for this serious subject. When not focusing on her singing career, Angèle partakes in acting as well.

5.Bleu Toucan

Chill and mellow is how I describe Bleu Toucan. Léo Beccera & Emmanuel Bonzé are the Parisian duo behind Bleu Toucan. Their music is composed of a smooth electronic-pop mix that is easy to listen to. I usually turn to Bleu Toucan for background music whenever I’m out and about running errands or working from home! Their song Hanoï Café makes me think I’m in my own personal music video whenever it pops up on my playlist!

What other French speaking artists do you recommend? Let me know in the comments down below!