Feu Follet, aka Alban Blaising, makes dark synth and cold wave music that falls somewhere between doomed romanticism and ethereal Gothic. Blaising adds a touch of fairy tale magic to his sonic conjuring as well, giving the listening experience a narrative touch.
In 2020 Feu Follet released La forêt oubliée on Blackjack Illuminist Records, a musical tale that was inspired by Blaising’s story that goes like this, “following a fox, a boy discovers a strange stele deep in the woods, which sets supernatural things in motion. In the end he is possessed by the stele and the ghost of a prehistoric shaman appears.” That album was largely instrumental, but with the engaging songs and Alban Blaising’s amazing artwork words weren’t needed to fall for the story and tunes.
Feu Follet has returned with a third LP for Blackjack Illuminist called Beneath The Earth, a continuation of the story line that came before. This time the story follows the fox from La forêt oubliée as he finds adventure underground. Once again Blaising includes a comic book with the story illustrated in striking color and inspiration pulled from The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, and the stories of Jules Verne.
This time around Feu Follet has brought on some help in the vocal department for these tracks. Each song has a different vocalist, both singing and writing lyrics. One of those vocalists is Alexander Donat, aka Vlimmer. Vlimmer sings on “The Tree”, “A Light Underground”, and “With You”. “With You” now has an amazing video to go along with it.
Directed by Alban Blaising, the video casts “With You” as a dark fairy tale; surreal imagery, hand puppets, and shadowy visuals bring Blaising’s comic book to fever dream life. Donat’s vocals give the proceedings a poetic and post-punk lean which adds a kind of visceral weight.
Beneath The Earth is a stunning listening experience. Fans of Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Siouxie Sioux, and Faith-era Cure will relish in the Gothic vibes Feu Follet, as well as his guest vocalists, has created for us here. The fact that a world and narrative has been built for us to fall into is even more reason to step into this world. The video for “With You” gives us a peak into mind of Alban Blaising. It seems to be quite the magical place.
Watch the video for “With You” below. Beneath The Earth is out now. Buy it here.
Complex Distractions 
“Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Siouxie Sioux, and Faith-era Cure” confirmed. What a cool concept for the record too.
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It really is.
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