Boulevard des airs

Formed in 2004 in the Hautes-Pyrenees town of Tarbes by schoolmates who would later become core members, the French collective Boulevard des Airs drew initial inspiration from the classic French chansons of Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens alongside the contemporary alt rock of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine. Their sound emerged as an eclectic blend of rock, reggae, jazz, ska, Latin, and Balkan elements, with lead singer Florent Dasque joined by her brother, guitarist Jean-Noel, bassist Laurent Garnier, multi-instrumentalist Sylvain Duthu, and drummer Alix Buy. Expansion to an eight-piece lineup followed with the addition of trombonist Jean-Baptiste Labe, clarinetist Kevin Poinas, and trumpeter Pierre-Emmanuel Aurousset. The group created the soundtrack for the 2009 award-winning snowboarding film eMotion, which helped cement their standing among France’s leading unsigned indie acts. Extensive touring alongside Les Ogres de Barback, Babylon Circus, and Les Hurlements D'leo preceded their signing to Sony, after which the 2011 debut single “Cielo Ciego” and its parent album Paris-Buenos Aires appeared. The record entered the Top 30 of the French album chart, and late 2012 brought a nomination for the Victoires de la Musique in the Révélation Scène category. The 2013 follow-up Les Appareuses Trompences maintained the international flavor with prominent Latin rhythms and peaked at number 31. Released in 2015 on Columbia, the third album Bruxelles returned the band to the charts, this time reaching the Top Ten. Lineup adjustments by that point saw the departures of Poinas and Buy, offset by the arrivals of singer and saxophonist Mélissa Doya, keyboardist Jérémie Planté, and drummer Ivan Guevo.