Étienne de Crécy taps Damon Albarn for single “Rising Soul”; new album ‘Warm Up’ out this week

French Touch great Étienne de Crécy will release his new album Warm Up this Friday, March 14 via his own PIXADELIC imprint. As usual, the album has an impressive lineup of vocal talent, including Damon Albarn, Hot Chip‘s Alexis Taylor, Sports, Frank Leone, Master Peace, Olivia Merilahti (The Dø), Peter Von Poehl, Sugar Pit, Kero Kero Bonito, and Caroline Rose.

For these collaborations, he invited each artist to write a song based on the instrumental he provided. This album, though, was not designed for the dancefloor but as something more chill you could listen to during the day.

You get those more relaxed vibes from “Rising Soul,” which is his collaboration with Damon Albarn. It’s still got Étienne’s analog synth fingerprints all over it, but with warm horns and an 88 bpm, this falls under “music played slow” that Albarn sings about in the song. You can watch the very cool, expertly edited video, which was directed by Étienne and Marie de Crécy and features dancer Marie Louise Hertog, below.

You can also watch similar videos, made with different dancers, for the Alexis Taylor, Peter Von Poehl, and Sports collabs on the album below.

Warm Up
World Away ft Alexis Taylor
Brass Band ft Peter von Poehl
With You ft Master Peace with Frank Leone
Karma ft Olivia Merilahti
Take It Back ft Sports
Outside ft Frank Leone
Ignition ft Sugar Pit
Small Screen ft Kero Kero Bonito
Monte Carlo ft Frank Leone
We Can Have Fun ft Caroline Rose
Rising Soul ft Damon Albarn