đœđđđđđđ is Madeon at His Angriest, Angstiest, and Most Brilliant
The French EDM icon should be the obvious pick for the next high-octane headliner for Manila's biggest raves.
by JV Ordoñez
Published on Jul 4, 2026
At the heels of electronic superstars Porter Robinson, Subtronics, and Galantis crushing the Manila crowd at the &Friends Festival at Okada Manila, we are making the case for genre-bending EDM icon Madeon to rock the local rave scene next.
Frenchman Hugo Pierre Leclerq has come a dazzling long way from his beloved melodic record Adventure (2015) and the masterpiece of a collaboration with the aforementioned Robinson in "Shelter."
We have been obsessed with his evolution as an artist, personified in his in-your-face creative pivot in his latest album Victory released earlier this month. Madeon is following a similar path to his best friend Robinson in being unabashed about embracing synth-pop superstardom and favoring noisy beeps and boops, low-fidelity guitars, and the musician singing his ass off.
This is the first album in seven years since Good Faith and is a full-frontal attack from top to bottom.
And we'd be the first to admit that it isn't for everyone, especially for some of his loyal fans who know him for this melodic, emotionally resonant sonic statement.
The first single off the record is "Hi!" and took critics by surprise with the hot sauce Madeon put in the song. He leans heavily into this noise-pop/hyper-pop aesthetic that we think would go hard at festivals.
Personal favorites of ours and the cuts with the most replayability include "Car Crash Baby," "Super Platinum," and for us Madeon's best track in years with "Dancing On Your Grave."
We don't know what Madeon put in this track, but it might as well have been crack since his vocals have never sounded more charismatic or as powerful as they are here. The instrumentation here is one of the album's brighter spots with the lush synth leads and dirty guitar chugs. Madeon also makes it crystal clear that he is going full steam ahead with this bold reinvention.
Madeon is exactly the era-defining and disrupting artist Manila needs in the next year's iterations of festivals like &Friends that draws the most diverse and most boisterous of crowds. Give the man his stage and DJ controller.
Esquire PH's resident music scribe, wristwatch disciple, and essayist fluent in niche internet subcultures and Philippine politics.
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