Drawing influence from artists ranging from Alain Souchon and Serge Gainsbourg to Coldplay, and with a voice that's both warm and distinctly husky, Patxi is a singer/songwriter from Basque country in southwest France. Following a semifinal finish on television's Star Academy, he charted in France and Switzerland with his 2006 debut album, S'Embrasser. He returned to the album chart in France with the follow-up, 2010's Amour Carabine, and then branched out into writing songs for others, including tracks recorded by Roch Voisine and Louane. Featuring a title track that subtly evoked the smoky style of Leonard Cohen, Patxi's fourth solo album, Le Monde Est Beau, appeared in 2024. Born in Saint-Jean-de-Luz in 1981, Patxi Garat grew up speaking Basque as his primary language. He first ascended to the national stage as a contestant on the third season of the hit music competition show Star Academy in 2003. After performing songs by the likes of Alain Souchon and Renaud, he was eventually eliminated in the semifinals, which was good enough to earn a spot on the series' 2004 tour and to chart just outside the French Top 20 with his debut single, "À l'Anglaise." The singer/songwriter signed with independent label Atmosphériques for the August 2006 release of his debut album, S'Embrasser. It spent six weeks on France's album chart, rising as high as number 54, and he cracked the Swiss Top 100, spending a week in the 100 slot. His sophomore LP, Amour Carabine, arrived on Atmosphériques in December 2010 and charted at number 125 on France's Top 150. That album was recorded with Autour de Lucie's Sébastien Lafargue, who also played several instruments on the album and co-wrote three of its songs. It would be over ten years before Patxi delivered another solo album, although he released the occasional single, appeared as a duet partner, issued an EP (2011's Quitter la France), took acting roles, and stayed busy writing songs for others. Some of the artists he wrote for during this time were Roch Voisine, Louane, and Jean-Baptiste Maunier, including several songs on Louane's chart-topping 2015 debut album, Chambre 12. When Patxi returned with another solo album, it was with En Basque, a set of Basque covers of French songs, including favorites originally by, among others, Souchon, Serge Gainsbourg, Christophe, and Nino Ferrer. It arrived on Hegal/Wagram/Elkar in May 2021. Original material was soon to come, and Patxi surfaced with solo singles including "Qu'est-ce Que Je Suis pour Toi?" and "Le Monde Est Beau" in the first half of 2024. The French pop album Le Monde Est Beau followed in September of that year. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi