[Kitsuné Musique](https://www.maisonkitsune.com/mk/music/), the label who helped launched the likes of Two Door Cinema Club and Parcels, have returned with a new music compilation, “Parisian 6.” It highlights upcoming French talent, fluent in the type of cool and unique energy Kitsuné has come to be known for.
At its inception, co-founders Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki envisioned a taste-making lifestyle brand that was cross-discipline, and grew to fulfill that dream by building [Maison Kitsuné](https://maisonkitsune.com/fr_en/) into a house that produces events, clothing, and music. They began releasing compilations in 2002, seeing it as a fresh format to reach their audience.
Their latest, “Parisian 6,” introduces 15 up-and-comers to watch in 2020. Some of the artists featured include Joanna, Pas Sages, and the label’s latest signee, Matveï. The artwork is designed by duo Louise Hardling and Géraldine Pace, who modernized a classic French font with bright, contemporary colors.
We had the chance to speak with Loaëc about their compilation.
**_Back in 2002, what inspired you to start creating the compilations? Why did you think that would be the best way to reach your audience?_**
Compilations have always been at the core of our model. It’s a way for us to help our audience discover a selection of the best new artists at once, and usually following a strong theme. It started with the compilation “Kitsuné Love.” The initial idea was to ask artists we liked to create a song on one of my favorite themes: love. Then we wanted to release a second one, “Kitsuné Midnight,” a third one “Kitsuné X,” and we started the Kitsuné Maison compilation series which featured our single releases at the time. The goal of the label was (and still is) to be open to all genres, all countries. We liked to do what other labels weren’t really doing: getting different artists together on one project around a given theme, rather than developing an artist, taking him to the studio, work his image. It’s a good thing, but a big responsibility for a young label, we just wanted to be one step in an artist’s evolution. When we became more confident, we started signing artists on development deals which led us to release the first albums of Two Door Cinema Club, Digitalism or Parcels most recently.
When streaming arrived, we decided to adapt our approach and base our entire strategy on playlists available under Kitsuné’s profile on each platform (Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora, and more). That way, our fans can follow the playlist, save it in their library to keep discovering new artists as we update the tracklist on a regular basis. But playlists have a limit. They are ephemeral, this is why making a compilation enables us to make sure our fans can still access and listen to the original tracklist and remember what was cool at the time, for the more nostalgic ones among us.
A good example is the new compilation “Kitsuné Parisien” we just released which features the best 15 French artists we believe are to watch in 2020 such as Ehla, Joanna, Fils Cara or Matveï, our own and latest signature on the label. It’s available both as a playlist and a compilation on all stores.
**_How do you think the music scene in France differs to that of the US?_**
We love both scenes and we have supported lots of artists from both scenes. It’s definitely hard for a French artist to find success on an international level, although streaming helps to get fans around the world without having to set foot in a country. That’s one of the reasons we release a compilation, Kitsuné Parisien, every year. We want to put the light on the French scene among our international audience. Kitsuné is a French label, and it’s always fun for us to be able to represent the French artists abroad. Our fans are everywhere: in Japan, the US, the UK, South-Korea, Mexico, to name but very few, and we want them to discover and listen to what’s new and cool in France.
We are really excited about this new compilation, these artists are shaking genres up to created unique and fresh sounds where dance meets hip hop and Latin music, where rap blends with French pop. They will definitely leave a mark on 2020.
**_How do you serve an international music audience, while keeping in mind the differing tastes of people from different regions?_**
Our project “New, Hot & Fresh” is definitely embodying that exactly, with a focus on streaming. It comes to life as a playlist available on all major streaming platforms and features artists from any musical background and from any country. Curating new music and exploring genres has always been at the core of the label, and I’m very proud of the image we have established. Whether our listener is French, South Korean or Canadian, he or she will find something he or she likes. The Kitsuné sound and aesthetics are extremely diverse.
Our roster speaks for itself, we currently develop Parcels, a five-piece band from Australia, based in Berlin, Pat Lok, a producer from Vancouver and based in LA, Tim Ayre, a young singer-songwriter from Perth, and more recently Matveï, a young French producer based in Montreal.
**_What qualities in new talents excite you most? What do you look for?_**
It’s all about the music honestly, as long as the music is great, and they fit our style, we will collaborate. We definitely like it when it sounds new and unique, when genres are shaken up a bit.
**_How did your visual collaboration with Hardling and Pace come about?_**
We liked some of the work they had done in the past, and just hit them up about the project. We like to avoid giving too many guidelines, and basically just told them to create visuals that would resonate internationally and represent Paris. They chose to use the Antique Olive font which has been a part of the Parisian poster campaign landscape from the early ‘60s.
**_Do you have a favorite track in the compilation?_**
All of them to be honest, but if I really had to choose one only, I’d pick “GET LOST” by Matveï. There is a lot more music from him to be released, stay tuned!
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