Yelle is a French electro-pop artist with three full studio albums under her belt, and responsible for tracks like “Je Veux Te Voir” and “A Cause Des Garcons” which provided for some great high-school anthems (at least for me!). Now Yelle is back, after her last album and string of remixes in 2014-2015, with a fresh new track.

Translated as “here and now”, “Ici & Maintenant” is a sweet electro-pop testament to the mundane. French isn’t my first language (and probably not yours) so the music video, which shows the singer going about her day with a sort of deranged shadow-self, helps convey the essence of the track. Overall, the song itself is nothing out of this world, except for the chorus, which has a nice swaying breakdown. But the video translates this into the experience of daily life: routine can sometimes be boring, but taking a second (to at least try) to be in the present can be a rewarding experience.

“After 3 albums and crazy intense touring over the world, we felt we needed to pause, not looking at the past or being in loops about what is next all the time, no, instead we want to be connected to the present. Here and Now. That’s exactly the idea behind the song. that’s our state of mind. Being simply and fully in the moment.” – Yelle