Aline (FR)

If Gamine was the best French pop band of the 1980s, Aline remains the one of the 2010s. Three decades apart, they share the same exemplary discography and fleeting trajectory: two memorable albums, then gone. With Regarde le ciel (2013) and La Vie électrique (2015) – produced by the illustrious Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur) – Romain Guerret’s band, which first appeared under the pseudonym Young Michelin and was renamed Aline because of a famous tire brand, wrote some of the finest chapters in clear-line pop. Melodic hooks, irresistible choruses, and a familiar voice – Aline’s formula strongly recalled that of Gamine. Like their Bordeaux elders, they had golden hits, including the anthem Je bois et puis je danse, the irresistible La Vie électrique, and the immense Avenue des armées. Unexpected yet timely, this compilation of nine unreleased tracks serves as a perfect reminder of Aline’s fundamental importance in the French pop landscape.