L'Imperatrice

Paris-based L'Imperatrice have matriculated from a good-times instrumental act to a six-piece powerhouse whose sashaying mixes of funk and French Touch, disco and deep house now include the fetching vocals of singer Flore Benguigui.

'Pulsar' is a focused but far-reaching record, the jubilant testament of a band with plenty to say and the skills to say it themselves. Across 10 tracks, L'Imperatrice move freely and authoritatively among the sounds they love, bridging hip- hop, kosmische, and modern pop with their most unabashed embraces of French Touch and international house ever. Benguigui, meanwhile, boldly sings of self- empowerment by shirking beauty standards, ageism, and drab normalcy, with a little help from an exciting set of new friends.