Breakbot – By Your Side

The Breakbot By Your Side vinyl is one of those records that arrived fully formed, a debut album from a French producer who clearly spent years absorbing the right influences before committing anything to wax.

Who Is Breakbot

Breakbot is the project of Thibaut Berland, a Paris-based producer who came up through the Ed Banger circle before signing to Because Music. His production style draws heavily on the filtered funk and polished studio craft of artists like Daft Punk and Air, while pulling just as much from the melodic pop architecture of Michael Jackson and Prince. That combination, French touch electronics meeting classic American soul and R&B, gave him a very specific sound. Warm, clean, groove-driven and deeply indebted to the feel of late 70s and early 80s pop production without ever becoming pastiche. By the time he played Coachella in 2012, the critical attention was already building, and that festival appearance helped solidify his reputation well beyond the dance music press.

About the Breakbot By Your Side Vinyl

By Your Side is his debut full-length, released on Because Music under catalog number BEC 5161259. This is a 2xLP pressing, which matters here. The album has enough range and enough carefully constructed low end that a double LP format gives each side room to breathe properly. Crowding this music onto a single record would compromise the dynamics, and whoever made the cutting decision clearly understood that. The Because Music label has consistently prioritized audio quality on their releases, and this one reflects that. The gatefold presentation on a 2xLP also does justice to an album that was designed with real attention to its total feel, not just its singles.

Why This Pressing Belongs in Your Collection

If your collection already has records by Daft Punk, Air or anything adjacent to the French electronic canon, By Your Side is a logical and satisfying addition. It holds up as a listening experience front to back, not just as a source of individual tracks. The influences Breakbot wears openly, Prince, Michael Jackson, classic French electronic production, are worn with genuine understanding rather than imitation. Collectors who came to this through the Ed Banger releases or through the broader Because Music catalog will find it fits naturally alongside those records. For anyone who missed the original release window, finding a clean copy of the 2xLP pressing is worth the effort. The format is right for the music, the label is right for the format, and the album itself holds up as a considered piece of work from a producer who knew exactly what he was making.