Thomas Bangalter resurrects a forgotten track for the film Climax

When Gaspar Noé was searching for the perfect soundtrack for his film Climax (2018), he did not expect to uncover a hidden treasure buried in the archives of one of the pioneers of French electronic music. The French director asked Thomas Bangalter, one half of Daft Punk, whether he had any unreleased tracks that might accompany his hallucinatory narrative.

That is how Sangria resurfaced—a track recorded by Bangalter in the 1990s but never released. Neither broadcast nor commercially distributed, it had been sleeping in the artist’s archives, forgotten by the public. For Climax, Noé decided to bring it out of the shadows and place it at the heart of one of the film’s most hypnotic scenes, where trance and chaos intertwine against the backdrop of a destructive party.

The result: Sangria becomes a character in its own right within the film. Its electronic pulse and gradual build intensify the sense of vertigo, accompanying the frenetic dance movements and the protagonists’ hallucinatory ascent. Although Bangalter had never released the track before, its resonance with the world of Climax gives it new life, inscribing this forgotten composition into the legend of cinema and electronic music.

In short, Sangria perfectly illustrates the meeting of two creators: one, a visionary musician offering an unreleased piece from his archives; the other, a provocative filmmaker capable of transforming a forgotten fragment into an unforgettable sensory experience.

TECHNICAL SHEET

Title: Sangria
Artist / Composer: Thomas Bangalter
Year of Recording: 1990s (unreleased until 2018)
Public Release Year: 2018 (via the Climax soundtrack)
Label: Milan Records (for the original soundtrack)
Associated Film: Climax
Director: Gaspar Noé
Musical Genre: Electronic music / House / Experimental
Duration: 5:36 (according to the official soundtrack)

Context of Creation:

• Track recorded by Bangalter in the 1990s but never published.
• Rediscovered and proposed to Gaspar Noé to accompany a scene in Climax.
• Adapted and integrated to reinforce the film’s hypnotic and chaotic atmosphere.

Role in the Film:

• Accompanies scenes of collective trance and frenetic dancing.
• Intensifies the tension and psychedelic dimension of the narrative.

Particularities:

• Never released as a single or on an album prior to the film.
• Considered a “forgotten piece” repurposed for the soundtrack.