Travelling With Sound
Last year was one to forget for many, but for French prog rockers Esthesis it was one to savour, with their impressive debut, The Awakening, helping them ensnare best unsigned band in the Prog Readers’ Poll. As mainman Aurélien Goude tells us, things are going to get a lot busier.
Words: Chris Cope Images: Mathilde Collet
Man with a vision: Aurélien Goude.
“Everyone knows how tough the world of music is, with too many bands to listen to,” Esthesis ringleader Aurélien Goude says.
“Fortunately, there are still a lot of people who like to discover new records.”
The musician is buoyant, and rightly so, after his band reigned supreme in the unsigned section of Prog’s 2020 Readers’ Poll. Their win was no fluke. The French quartet’s debut, The Awakening, is an assured album, as sharp as a handshake with Edward Scissorhands, flitting between the lucid dreaming of Pink Floyd and the angular attack of Porcupine Tree. Its genesis can be traced back to last spring’s lockdown, with Goude writing songs in solitude before zapping them over to his bandmates.