Thomas Bangalter, half of the pioneering French electronic duo Daft Punk, who announced their split in 2021, has announced his first orchestral solo album — and has revealed his 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 final LP, “Random Access Memories” (pictured above). Early in their career the duo issued some blurred photographs of themselves but quickly adopted an anonymous profile.
Coming April 7 on Erato/Warner Classics, Bangalter’s new album, “Mythologies,” is a work that was initially commissioned by the choreographer Angelin Preljocaj for the ballet of the same name and premiered by the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Romain Dumas. According to the announcement, “As a substantial lyrical work, Mythologies finds the co-founder of Daft Punk reinventing his approach to composition” and that the 90-minute score “shows scant regard for conventional stylistic boundaries,” revealing “a love of Baroque music and traces of American minimalism.”
The project dates back to the autumn of 2019, when Angelin Preljocaj invited Bangalter to write the music for a new work that was to 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’s ballet company, ten others from Preljocaj’s own company and the house’s resident orchestra.
The track list appears below.
Tracklist :
I. Premiers Mouvements
II. Le Catch
III. Thalestris
IV. Les Gémeaux I
V. Les Amazones
VI. L’Arrivée d’Alexandre
VII. Treize Nuits
VIII. Danae
IX. Zeus
X. L’Accouchement
XI. Les Gorgones
XII. Renaissances
XIII. Le Minotaure
XIV. Eden
XV. Arès
XVI. Aphrodite
XVII. Les Naïades
XVIII. Pas de Deux
XIX. Circonvolutions
XX. Les Gémeaux II
XXI. Icare
XXII. Danse Funèbre
XXIII. La Guerre