Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia

• Genre: Electronica/Dance

About

The French duo Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia first came together in 2006 with "Far Away," a single released on London's Crosstown Rebels label, and they quickly made themselves at home on Ben Watt's Buzzin' Fly label, where their clean house beats and subtly melancholic melodies fit perfectly with the Everything But the Girl member's legacy. The duo's debt to the '80s is no secret: "Dead Souls" borrows a title from Joy Division, while the band's occasional guitars and slippery, linear synth lines can be dead ringers for New Order's chilly approach. In 2008, the pair released its debut album, Pain Disappears, an album that streamlined its influences (Depeche Mode, Talk Talk, minimal techno) into a moody, cohesive whole.

- Philip Sherburne