Daft Punk legend Thomas Bangalter confirms new ballet album, ‘Mirage’
Daft Punk icon Thomas Bangalter has announced that his new album, titled Mirage: Ballet for 16 Dancers, will be released on June 5th.
The work will not exist in isolation. Instead, it will score an eponymous ballet conceived by choreographer Damien Jalet and contemporary artist Kohei Nawa.
The ballet premiered at the Grand Theatre de Geneve in May 2025. It has been touring Europe since and has received glowing critical reviews.
In a nod to Bangalter’s roots, the project also utilises “electronic minimalism” inspired by Greek-French avant-garde composer Iannis Xenakis. According to the official album description, Bangalter “takes a sculptural approach to sound and music” in the lineage of Xenakis.
The piece, which will consist of 16 tracks in an echo of the form it will score, will chart the “changing states” of the ballet’s dancers.
Fans can listen to the first release from the new album, ‘Mirage: Part II’, which has been produced entirely by Bangalter, who also played all of the instruments on the piece.
Since Daft Punk announced their split in 2021, Bangalter has remained involved in music, creating a series of soundtracks, such as Mythologies and Daaaaaalí! in 2023.
Though Bangalter fell away from the public eye for many years, the star returned for his first DJ set on UK soil in almost 19 years earlier this year, when he performed alongside Fred again… during the latter’s final USB002 headline show at London’s Ally Pally.
During his set, Bangalter treated the audience to a number of Daft Punk classics, playing ‘Rollin’ & Scratchin’’, ‘Digital Love’, and ‘Contact’. He also aired The Chemical Brothers’ dance-floor filler, ‘Galvanise’, and Jonny Greenwood’s score for One Battle After Another.
In a rare interview with BBC 6 Music in 2023, Bangalter explained why he was glad that Daft Punk had quit while they were ahead, sharing, “There’s a moment where it ends and I think it’s actually interesting to have this opportunity to start, have the middle and to end it… [I was] relieved and happy to look back and say: ‘OK, we didn’t mess it up too much.’”
Mirage will be released on June 5th.
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