La Frette, a live-in studio in a 19th century manor house in the Val d'Oise, just outside Paris, has opened its doors and microphones to stars such as Nick Cave, Marianne Faithfull and the Arctic Monkeys. "It's a real collaboration who everyone is playing different instruments and, and so picking up the French cool for the Brits," says Luke Pritchard, frontman of the Kooks. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES