The Guest List: Folamour soundtracks a heartfelt summer of love and funk

The theme of "love and freedom" couldn't be any more timely and fitting for what the world needs right now, and Marseille-based DJ and producer, Folamour, has just dropped a gift-wrapped, double-dose of it via his latest album 'Manifesto'.

Two years in the making, Folamour claims 'Manifesto' is his best work to date, and sees him collaborate with a heap of artists that resonate personally with him, inlcluding Baccus, Amadou & Mariam, Jungle By Night, Khazali, Emmanuel Jal, and Tim Ayre.

The fourteen-track album is an ode to the luxurious essence of house and disco, and with the addition of Folamour's rich sound palette, there's a high expectation for 'Manifesto' to have a lasting impact on the house world for aeons to come.

While we've been soaking on the sunshine-packed LP, we reached out to the funky Frenchman to understand his sound pallete even better. He got back to us with a timely list of 10 sun-drenched tunes that evoke a sense of summer madness. You'll need to take a dip to cool off from these blissful heaters, so dive on in.

The perfect song to welcome the summer and the sun in our life! Funnily enough, the band comes from London but the song carries all the energy, love and hope I like to fill my soul with before going on tour all summer.

I like to wake up to this song during summer, opening my windows and welcoming the world! Brazilian music holds a special place in my heart and amongst my influences and it takes even more place than usual in my playlists during summer. Brazilian music has been my summer soundtrack for as long as I can remember.

Again, straight from Brazil, one of my favourite songs. The song is a tribute to Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian F1 driver, and 1972's world champion so it connects deeper than music as I'm fond of the sport and it's my go-to during long week-ends of transport and summer sleepless nights, following races while touring is a tough game but when I get to catch a Grand Prix, it always gets me in a smooth zone for the rest of the day!

Summer for me is all about dancing and music. I tour all along summer, almost non-stop, and I spend most of my evenings playing music and dancing with my people and this track has the perfect balance of energy, groove and sun I need to keep going when tired.

During summer, I tend to play much more outside in open-air events, during day time too, so I usually play quite differently from the sets I'm playing during winter in clubs. I go slower, and funkier too I'd say, and this track represents perfectly the type of music I love to play during sunset, joyful and uplifting vibes.

One of my favourite songs by Henri Salvador, such a special artist with a very personal way to express summer love and nostalgia with subtlety and poetry. Here, he sings about remembering all these holiday destinations that he misses, almost like a vague memory, tainted with tenderness and sadness too, the perfect after-party song to listen to with friends on the beach while the sun comes out.

With the heat, the flowers, the nature blooming, summer always carries sensuality and love for me so I wanted to pick a smooth but sexy song and this one came to my mind right away. The original is already brilliant but how it's been turned into a deep house ballad here is why I always have it somewhere near in case I need it!

What's better than driving during sunset in South France, Corsica or Italy, listening to music with windows opened and knowing the night has a lot to offer? Nothing, if you ask me, and living in South France, I love listening to Piero Piccioni in my car, it always quiets conversations and gets everybody to just enjoy the moment we're sharing.

Probably my favourite song from one of my favourite albums of the last decade. There's not much I can say about this one, it's just flawless, groovy and gets me to forget about all my problems and see the glass full and all of that with just a bassline.

To finish my selection, I decided to pick one song from my new album 'Manifesto' called 'Voyage' featuring Amadou & Mariam because summer is about travelling, meeting new people and culture, embracing what the world has to offer and opening our minds and heart to everything and the song is about that. About how we can change the world just by meeting new people and exchanging about who we are. It was very special to write the song with Amadou & Mariam and it was beautiful to connect so easily on the topic of the song, everything felt natural writing it.

Read more on Folamour's new album 'Manifesto' here.