The Seeker
It’s been five years since Alcest’s last studio album, and after tackling a spell of writer’s block, the French blackgaze duo are back with a surprisingly uplifting new release. Les Chants De L’Aurore takes the listener on a magical journey through childhood memories of a past life. Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Neige recounts the dreamy record’s creation and explains why he considers it to represent “the real Alcest”.
Words: Isere Lloyd-Davis Portrait: William Lacalmontie
Winterhalter (left) and Neige (right) go back to the band’s roots.
“Although Alcest’s music is introspective, I think that like many musicians, I need stimulation from the outside world.”
“In my mind I still see myself as that awkward kid, living at my parents’ house, making strange and ethereal music about my experience in a past life, and I wonder why people would listen to that,” says Neige, aka Stéphane Paut, frontman and mastermind behind Alcest.
The humble French duo have recently released their seventh album following an unplanned hiatus. Having overcome the stasis caused by a worldwide lockdown and Neige’s self-confessed writer’s block, the new album, Les Chants De L’Aurore, takes the listener back to Alcest’s original path – a journey into singer Neige’s childhood memories of a past life in an otherworldly paradise.