Thomas Bangalter, one half of pioneering French electronic duo Daft Punk, who announced their split in 2021, announced their first orchestral solo album – and revealed their face for the first time in a public context, albeit as a realistic illustration. Daft Punk were famously anonymous, performing and appearing in public wearing elaborate helmets, including their performance at the 2014 Grammy Awards, where they won Album of the Year for their latest LP, ‘Random Access Memories’ (pictured above). Early in their career, the duo posted a few blurry photos of themselves but soon adopted an anonymous profile.
To be released on April 7 on Erato/Warner Classics, Bangalter’s new album, “Mythologies”, is a work originally commissioned by choreographer Angelin Preljocaj for the ballet of the same name and created by the Orchester National Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Roman Dumas. . According to the announcement, “As a substantial lyrical work, Mythologies finds the Daft Punk co-founder reinventing his approach to composition” and that the 90-minute score “shows little respect for conventional stylistic boundaries”, revealing “a love of the baroque”. music and traces of American minimalism.
The project dates back to the fall of 2019, when Angelin Preljocaj invited Bangalter to write the music for a new work that will mark the culmination of several years of collaboration with the Opéra National de Bordeaux. The piece was intended for ten dancers from the Opéra National de Bordeaux ballet company, ten others from Preljocaj’s own company and the house’s resident orchestra.
The track list appears below.
Track list:
I. First Movements
II. Catch
III. Thalestris
IV. Gemini I
V. The Amazons
VI. Arrival of Alexander
VII. Thirteen Nights
VIII. Danish
IX. Zeus
X. Childbirth
XI. The Gorgons
XII. rebirths
XIII. The Minotaur
XIV. Eden
XV. Ares
XIV. Aphrodite
XVII. The Naiads
XVIII. no two
XIX. Swirls
XX. Gemini II
XXI. I worry
XXII. Funeral Dance
XXIII. The wars