FRENCH SEXTET L’IMPÉRATRICE AND CALIFORNIA’S CUCO TEAM UP FOR PSYCHEDELIC DISCO TRACK “HEARTQUAKE”

L’IMPÉRATRICE, THE “FESTIVAL FAVORITE” LIVE BAND, WILL PERFORM AT LOLLAPALOOZA AND OUTSIDE LANDS THIS SUMMER (see live dates below)

“Every Coachella has that moment. This year’s breakout belonged to France’s L’Impératice, whose precipice-of-the-’80s-influenced, earnest Eurodisco led to an enormous crush of people trying to get a dance in.” – Variety

“7 Captivating Sets From Coachella: Parisian six-piece L’Impératrice took the Gobi tent to the discothèque for an exuberant, funk-filled dance party.” – GRAMMY.com

“Transport yourself to the Riviera with the low-key disco clouds drifting from this French band’s set.” – Austin American Statesman

Today, the French sextet L’Impératrice has teamed up with California’s Cuco to bring their nu-disco and psychedelic styles together to a perfect match with “Heartquake”. Having met backstage at Coachella in 2022, they created the thrilling summer song which is bound to become a live favorite at the summer festivals. After becoming a “festival favorite” with rave live reviews for their Coachella and Austin City Limits performances, L’Impératrice has been invited to play Lollapalooza in Chicago and Outside Lands and San Francisco this summer.

Cuco adds: “It’s a pleasure and honor to be working with my friends in L’Impératrice.”

To further introduce the Parisian band, one can start by explaining that “Impératrice” is French for “Empress”. The frontwoman Flore Benguigui (vocals, synths) and Charles de Boisseguin (the group’s founder on keyboards), Hagni Gwon (keyboards), David Gaugué (bass guitar), Achille Trocellier (electric guitar), Tom Daveau (drums) form an electrifying live band, draw from a range of genres, from 70s space disco to downtempo 90s synth pop, taking in French film composers like François de Roubaix and Michel Legrand along the way. “Albums that sold 500 copies in the 1970s are the records that interest us most,” the band explains.

L’Impératrice’s debut album Matahari arrived worldwide in 2019 with all the pomp and circumstance of a coronation. Matahari is a glittering, cinematic summation of six years of hard work that draws on some of the finest found sounds and forgotten sonic fandangos hiding in crates across the land, all given L’Impératrice’s own inimitable 21st century twist. Their follow up album Tako Tsubo (2021) was critically acclaimed and earned them the chance to play Coachella 2022, which became their breakthrough live set. Tako Tsubo is the official name for broken-heart syndrome, (蛸壺, from Japanese “octopus trap”), which manifests itself by a deformation of the heart due to an intense emotion – a negative or positive one.

From a fairly early stage, Cuco’s songs seemed to connect with audiences online, his earnest bedroom pop aesthetic and evident talent resonating for obvious reasons. Home-recorded and shared via serviceslike Bandcamp and SoundCloud, self-released projects like 2016’s Wannabewithu and 2018’s Chiquito EP mixed relatable and catchy works in English and Spanish, endearing Cuco to other first-generation Latin Americans and young fans of indie singer-songwriters. Untethered to genre constraints, he experimented with styles and sounds, incorporating mariachi and R&B, psychedelia and rap, as well as other forms into his diverse palette as he sought fit.

Much to his delight, the play counts on his tracks went from the thousands into the hundreds of thousands, prompting him to bring his music into the live setting more and more often, playing to growing crowds on tour and in festival settings. “It’ll always be surreal to me,” he says. “I never take it for granted if I see so many people at one show, you know, I don’t know the next day that I’m gonna see that again; it’s always appreciated.”

Following the release of 2019’s formidable and unique Para Mí, his full-length debut since signing with Interscope, Cuco’s exponential growth and development as an artist became undeniable. With his latest album, Fantasy Gateway, Cuco pushes the envelope of his sound, presenting a new chapter of his career in which his growth and ability to take risks to great results are on full display.

L’Impératrice live dates:

Fri 8.4 – Montreal, CAN @ Osheaga
Sat 8.5 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall (Lollapalooza aftershow)
Sun 8.6 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
Wed 8.9 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy Theatre (tickets here)
Thu 8.10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy Theatre (tickets here)
Fri 8.11 – San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club (tickets here)
Sat 8.12 – San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands