In another case of the everyone else getting all the good stuff first, the latest album from French popsters Tahiti 80 is coming out in North America next month, more than a year after its release across the pond. This would explain the slew of North American dates coming up soon, which has me interested; we don’t have a whole lot of bands over here powered by disco beats and falsettos anymore, not that Tahiti 80 are the second coming of the Bee Gees or anything. Though listening to “Big Day” off the aforementioned Fosbury, maybe the comparison isn’t as ludicrous as I thought.

Tahiti 80’s biggest splash stateside was with “Heartbeat,” off their first album Puzzle. Perhaps as part of the transcontinental music exchange program that sent Towa Tei to London and Kahimi Karie to Paris, Tahiti 80 found themselves with a sizable fan base in Japan. And why not? The Japanese have never been as allergic to the disco aesthetic as the Reagan generation. So it makes some sense that Cornelius should work his magic on “Heartbeat.” If you’ve heard any of the Four Tet remixes of Beth Orton’s Daybreaker material, you’ll know what to expect here: the beats and keyboards have been turned down in favor of a more organic folk sound. There’s even a bit of banjo in there somewhere. Sublime and soothing where the original was upbeat and full of funk, it’s a lovely track to have in your collection.