Sit back, relax and enjoy Folamour's latest album Manifesto. The French DJ and producer's has curated the perfect dreaming-of-a-hot-summer soundtrack. An exploration of funk, disco, and slick house, the album brings together Folamour's personal records created over the last two years, with an A-list lineup of features. We spoke to the artist about Manifesto and what's to come:

‍Congratulations on the release, we love the album. It makes us dance! Tell us about creating this album. What was the starting point?

Thank you, it feels good to know it’s finally out! The starting point for Manifesto was the process of producing, releasing and promoting my previous two albums. I’ve always felt put aside because of not wanting my music to be explainable in two words, not wanting to do the same music again and again, always pushing to have a message, these are things that we avoid in music nowadays and I could feel medias and labels being repulsed by what I was doing even tho I could feel my music was each time the best I’ve done at that point. I had the choice to be what everybody wanted me to be or to stand up for myself, doing some career sacrifices in the process but being proud of my evolution and what I was offering to the people. All these thoughts lead me to write ‘Freedom’ and all started from there. I wanted to write an album as a Manifesto of being free, choosing to be who we want to be without caring about expectations or what we think we won’t be able to achieve. 

What did you learn from making this album? 

I think what I learned the most is to trust myself and to believe in me. Everything’s always pushing me to doubt but having faith in what I do and stand for is something I had to learn more and more in the recent years. 

You’ve described this album as “a manifesto of of my love for free humanity” so how do you hope people feel listening to it? What do you hope they feel inspired to do? 

I hope people will feel empowered, strong and limitless. I hope they’ll be inspired to be who they want to be and to achieve what they truly dream of achieving. Nothing’s given and if we don’t follow what we have in mind, no one ever will. We all are the only one able to follow our path and to do things our way. 

Is there a song you’re most proud of? 

I think ‘Alive’ is probably the song I’m the most proud of from Manifesto cause I think I really succeed to carry emotions and more through it and I’m proud of my writing on the orchestrations and the lyrics and vocals. 

How do you think you have evolved as an artist sonically on this project?

I recorded a part of the album at Wisselord studio in Netherlands, and it was nice to be in a room where playing my music sounds exactly like it’s supposed to! it helped me to improve my skills while working on monitors that were perfectly rendering the sound. Also, I had access to microphones and a bigger room to record violins, brass, and stuff like that so I was able to step up again in my recordings and that way, getting closer to how I was hearing things in my mind. 

You have great features on the album. We’d love to know more about the people you worked with and what they brought to your world. 

I’m so proud of the album features. Everything happened so easily and they all make so much sense. For me, the most important when looking for the right collaborator is to know if they’ll understand and feel to their core the message or story I want to tell, then, they bring their own vision of the story and it helps me find new angles or perspective, I love these moments!

Are you still based in France? 

Yes, still! I live in Marseille right now, in an area where my grand parents lived 50 years ago, where my father grew up and it inspired me a lot on the album.

Do you find yourself still being inspired by your country? Where would you like to create the next album? 

The chaos and the beauty you feel in this city has brought so much to the story I wanted to tell. There is something special here. At some point, I would like to try taking a month off, renting a house in the countryside and creating an album in that period, it would change me from always creating, non stop, without having specific deadlines or time frames to work on a project. 

What’s something you’re passionate about aside from music? 

I love movies and tv shows which is probably my main passion, and it’s always been, I spend most of time watching documentaries and series. Besides that, food, no doubt haha.

What’s next for you?

I don’t know yet for now but touring all summer in Europe, going back to the US, South America and Australia at the end of the year for sure. There is something coming at the end of the summer, music-wise, but I can’t say more for now. Right now I’m turning a page and thinking about what I want to write on the next on ! 

@folamour_fhuo