As acts like Erol Alkan and the Klaxons were blurring the lines between indie rock and dance music in 2007, Germany's Digitalism were mashing garage band attitude with pumping electro music while in cahoots with the stylish French house label Kitsuné Music. After meeting in a record store and joining forces as a DJ team, Jens Moelle and Ismail Tuefekci decided to create a dance project that acted as a band and dubbed it Digitalism. Sounding like Daft Punk with a real live drummer, the single "Idealistic" introduced the band in 2004, first as a white label and soon after on Kitsuné. Follow-up singles "Zdarlight" (2005) and "Jupiter Room" (2006) brought more fans, and as indie rock's dancefloor presence was increasing, the stage was set for their much-anticipated debut. Idealism arrived in 2007 and was licensed by Toshiba EMI in Japan and Astralwerks in the U.S. After a world tour, they returned in 2010, back on the Kitsuné label with the EP Blitz, and in 2011 they joined the V2 imprint with their album I Love You, Dude. The Magnetism Recording Co. signed the group in 2016 and issued Mirage that same year. The album spawned two singles released simultaneously, "Battlecry" and "Utopia." Returning a year later, the duo delivered the five-song EP, 5KY11GHT. ~ David Jeffries