TELEPOPMUSIK - FROM TV ADS TO MUSIC STARDOM

French Trio Are an International Hit 

Paris 

04/03/2005 - 

Following a successful international tour and a period of their music popping up in TV ads, Télépopmusik have now extended their career beyond the TV screen. The French trio have just put the finishing touches to their second album, Angel Milk.

Télépopmusik are finally back in the music news – a full three years after their debut album! The group’s first opus, Genetic World, proved to be a big international hit, selling an impressive 250,000 copies to date. A hard act to follow! And this, perhaps, explains why Télépopmusik took so long making the follow-up.

Music fans may not yet know the name Télépopmusik, but we can guarantee they’ll be familiar with the group’s music as this has featured in the background of various TV advertising campaigns over the years. In fact, Télépopmusik’s first ever single, Da Hoola (produced in 1997 and featured on cutting- edge French electro compilation SourceLab Vol.3), was instantly picked up on by the advertising agency Euro RSCG BETC who used it as a soundtrack for an international car ad.

When music serves the cause of advertising, advertising often returns the favour, providing worldwide exposure for certain tracks (just ask Moby!) And in 2002, Télépopmusik found their profile boosted even further when two other tracks from their debut album were used as soundtracks in TV ads for the same car company and a leading brand of coffee. Viewers drank up the sultry, jazzy vocals of Angela Mc Cluskey on Breathe and Smile as the music of the oh so aptly named Télépopmusik filtered into their brains. 

Live commitment 

Sales of Genetic World owed a lot to TV exposure and the famous “music featured in the ad…” stickers emblazoned on Télépopmusik’s album covers. But the success of the trio’s first album was not down to this alone. Genetic World arrived on the music scene as a sort of timely counterpoint to house beats and followed in the French electro wake forged by the likes of Daft Punk, Superfunk and Bob Sinclar. Télépopmusik’s seamless mix of electronic machines, vocals and acoustic instruments struck an instant chord with music fans in search of a new sound and the trio went on to establish themselves as the top producers of lounge music ‘made in France.’ In short, the Télépopmusik sound coincided with a new phase in the electro movement where electronic beats fused with brass and string sections.

Télépopmusik evolved very much as a live band, conforming to the traditional guitar-bass-drums line-up. Fabrice Dumont, a member of Télépopmusik (as well as another successful French band Autour de Lucie) insists on the fundamental role live shows have played in the group’s career. "Touring is the only way a group really exists," he says, "from a human and social point of view. Basically, we’re known  for doing downtempo music, but we like to show people we’re  capable of rearranging tracks to play live on stage. And just let me say, we go down very well sandwiched between two rock bands!’’

Télépopmusik took to the stage with a vengeance after the release of their first album, playing over 100 gigs. Only 20 or so of these were in France, the group preferring to travel further afield and reach audiences in Europe, Turkey, Canada, Central America and the U.S. Télépopmusik proved to be an unexpected hit in the States, in fact, their profile probably boosted by another Mitsubishi car ad – and certainly confirmed by an excellent word-of-mouth buzz around their tour dates. (This turned out to be the best possible sort of promotion for Télépopmusik, a group who have never been consistent chart-toppers, but whose career is solidly geared to the long term). Télépopmusik proved so successful in the States that they ended up winning two nominations in the dance category at the Grammy Awards. American radio stations also picked up on the group, promoting them in the same dance category. Meanwhile, back home in France (apart from a few local Paris stations) there was complete and utter radio silence! 

Big screen ambitions 

Given this radio silence, TV ads proved to be a most effective way of breaking onto the market. As Fabrice Dumont points out, "Doing music for TV ads isn’t just a great opportunity, it can be a matter of life and death for a band. In our case, the TV ads meant we were able to directly reinvest the money we earned in our American tour.” And the ads worked on another level, too. As Dumont says, “People often remember the music to a TV ad more than the actual product being advertised!”

Following their success on the live circuit and TV screens and ensuing sales in record stores, the trio regrouped and began to give serious thought to bringing out a second album. Angel Milk was a full year in the making and Télépopmusik’s notorious striving for perfection shines through on each and every track, all infused with carefully polished arrangements, multiple sound effects and an orchestra recorded in Budapest. Angel Milk also features a new singer, Deborah Anderson, whose vocals fit nicely alongside those of the group’s habitual vocalists, Angela Mc Cluskey and Mau (from the group Earthling). 

The three members of Télépopmusik devoted an entire year in their Paris studio to Angel Milk, after each of the threesome had spent time pursuing their own individual projects. Stephan Haeri had been tied up releasing his debut solo album under the pseudonym 2Square, DJ Christophe Hetier had been busy mixing on the club and film circuit and Fabrice Dumont had taken time off to concentrate on composing the soundtrack to Catherine Corsini’s film La Répétition. For, like fellow French electro stars Air, Télépopmusik now have their sights firmly set on the silver screen. And, while waiting for their ethereal electro-pop melodies to feature on a major motion picture soundtrack, we heartily recommend Angel Milk as perfect listening for your own private home cinema! 

Télépopmusik Angel Milk (Catalogue/EMI Capitol) 2005 

Nicolas  Dambre

Translation : Julie  Street