Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter Releases First Single From Upcoming Project

Thomas Bangalter, the French musician who was one half of Daft Punk, will release a new solo album on 7 April, the score to the Mythologies ballet. Bangalter has just unveiled the first taste of the new album with L'Accouchement.

The former Daft Punk member is the composer, with Romain Dumas conducting the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. It's a beautiful piece of music that will complement the Mythologies ballet and could be featured in a film.

Bangalter's 90-minute score was commissioned by Angelin Preljocaj, the founder of Ballet Preljocaj. The ballet held a premiere last year at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France. 

"As a substantial lyrical work, Mythologies finds the co-founder of Daft Punk reinventing his approach to composition," read the announcement about Bangalter's upcoming album. The score "shows scant regard for conventional stylistic boundaries" and showcases "a love of Baroque music and traces of American minimalism" (via Variety).

Pre-order Mythologies here.

Daft Punk disbanded in 2021 and broke hearts all over the world when they announced their breakup after 28 years. Pitchfork reported that Daft Punk's longtime publicist Kathryn Frazier confirmed the news. However, an explanation behind the decision was not given. 

Formed in 1993, the duo were hugely influential in the French house scene, and their 1997 debut album, Homework, featured classic tracks like Around The World and Da Funk.

Their second album, Discovery, released in 2001, was even bigger thanks to hits like One More Time and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

Daft Punk's fourth and final album, 2013's Random Access Memories, saw them achieve their first-ever #1 Australian album.

In their near 30-year career, the group won six Grammy Awards, including Album Of The Year for Random Access Memories and Record Of The Year for their collaboration with Pharrell Williams, Get Lucky.

In October, however, Daft Punk launched a TikTok account where users can access music from the duo's back catalogue for use in their videos. The group have retained the rights to their music since the 1990s. 

In two new Pokémon games, Violet and Scarlet, you can unlock the iconic Daft Punk helmet (or "Cool Helmet" in the games) as a hidden item. 

The helmet comes in different colours, from the most well-known gold option worn by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, to white, black, red, yellow, green, blue, orange, navy, purple, pink, grey, beige, olive, brown, silver, and aurora coloured helmets. Find out more here.