Caravan Palace

France’s Caravan Palace are known for their snappy, electronic-tinged brand of jazz manouche, club music, and pop they call “electro-swing.” Though chiefly inspired by Django Reinhardt, they also cite Vitalic, Cab Calloway, Justice, Lionel Hampton, and Daft Punk among their influences. They debuted in 2008, hitting number 11 in France with their eponymously titled Caravan Palace. The group returned to the French Top 20 with 2012′s Panic and reached the Top Ten on Billboard’s electronic albums chart with both 2015′s Robot Face and 2019′s Chronologic. In 2024, they delivered Gangbusters Melody Club. Hailing from Paris, Caravan Palace originally featured Charles Delaporte (bass, programming), Arnaud Vial (guitar, programming), Hugues Payen (violin, programming), Zoé Colotis (vocals), Antoine Toustou (electronics, trombone), and Camille Chapelière (sax/clarinet). They initally came together around 2006, purportedly to record music for a silent adult film,. However, it was after releasing tracks online that their buzz began to grow. A tour followed and in 2008 they released the debut, the eponymously titled Caravan Palace, on the French independent label Wagram Music. Promoted with the release of “Jolie Coquine” as a single, the album was very well-received, reaching number 11 on the French albums chart and garnering acclaim for its traditional jazz inclinations. Caravan Palace returned in 2012 with their sophomore album, Panic, which introduced keyboardist Paul-Marie Barbier. Heralded by the singles “Clash,” “Rock It for Me,” and “Dramophone,” the album returned them to the top 20 of the French album charts. The whimsical Robot Face, stylized as <I°_°I>, arrived in 2015. It charted in France, Belgium, and Switzerland, and on the British and American dance charts. An EP called Wonderland appeared in 2016, after which Caravan Palace were relatively quiet. It was around this time that reedist Chapelière left the band with saxophonist Victor Raimondeau jumping on board. The group returned in early 2019 with the release of the single “Miracle.” Additional singles “About You,” “Plume,” and “Supersonics” arrived throughout the year in advance of the full-length Chronologic. Arriving that August, the album reached the Top 60 in France and hit number six on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. More lineup changes found Raimondeau leaving, with trombonist Martin Berlugue and saxophonist Lucas Saint-Cricq coming on board. In 2024, Caravan Palace delivered their fifth studio album, Gangbusters Melody Club, which again reached the Top 200 in France and number ten on the U.K. Dance Albums chart. ~ Matt Collar