The program is not engulfed by furious guitars, since it is Stromae who will draw the star curtain on Sunday evening at the Domaine national de Saint-Cloud, at the gates of Paris.

But the atmosphere of this meeting capable of accommodating 40,000 spectators per evening promises to be charged with electricity.

"The opportunities on the headliners have made it possible to stick to our musical DNA, even if we also remain committed to presenting a panorama of current artists outside of guitar rock and pop", describes to AFP the director of the event, Matthieu Ducos.

In the absence of Rage Against the Machine, which canceled its European tour after frontman Zack de La Rocha suffered a leg injury, Arctic Monkeys are the center of attention.

"This is one of the groups whose public has been asking us to come in the most insistent way for years, we are happy to please the regulars of Rock en Seine", savors Matthieu Ducos.

This is the only French date of the four British musicians.

Drummer Matt Helders had dropped at the end of 2021 that a new album was in the pipeline to succeed "Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino" (2018).

A corner of the suspense was raised this Wednesday at midday on the social networks of the Sheffield group: the seventh studio disc will be called "The Car" and will be released on October 21.

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This new opus was recorded in England and at the studio-residence of La Frette, near Paris, already frequented for the sessions of "Tranquility...".

The cover is signed Matt Helders, photographer in his spare time.

Pioneers and nuggets

"The Car" is "connected" to the state of mind of the group at its beginnings, confides the leader Alex Turner in his first interview since this announcement, granted to the British media Big Issue.

"You have to follow your instincts, that's how we did it in the beginning," he insists.

Since the world tour started in early August, only one new title was unveiled on stage, "I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am", Tuesday evening in Zurich.

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Thursday evening at Rock en Seine will be loaded with riffs, since other British bands (Idles, Yard Act, Fontaines DC) will turn up the sound.

Nick Cave, accompanied by his Bad Seeds, will blow on the embers on Friday evening.

The Australian with the postures of a preacher has already passed through Paris last winter at the Salle Pleyel with two intense concerts.

Rock seekers, the Limiñanas, Squid (Friday) or even Tame Impala (Saturday), will also spice up the debates.

For the electro sphere, the veterans of Kraftwerk will make their machines resonate.

With, as usual, an explosive visual show to amplify their hypnotic loops.

The opportunity for "the younger generations", as Matthieu Ducos notes, to discover these German pioneers who influenced the Detroit techno scene today brought up to date by Beyoncé in her latest album, "Renaissance".

Apart from these high-sounding names, it will also be necessary to browse between the different stages of the festival to lend an ear to the concerts of the new voices of rap, such as Lala &ce (pronounced Ace as in tennis), soul like Crystal Murray or synthetic pop with Zaho from Sagazan.

© 2022 AFP