French multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Alban Blaising is readying a brand new Feu Follet album called Lost Locust, out on 10/6. The one-man electronic/post-punk project has been quite prolific, releasing 4 albums since 2019 on German label Blackjack Illuminist. Lost Locust will make number 5, and once again Blaising is releasing on Alexander Donat’s fantastic label. Donat, for those not in the know, is the creative force behind Vlimmer, Fir Cone Children, and Assassun. Donat keeps the creative vibes fertile and alive at Blackjack Illuminist, allowing artists to flourish.
Feu Follet works in the world of cold wave, dark wave, and electro pop that owe a tip of the hat to artists like Bauhaus, The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Joy Division. Beautifully melancholic songs that soundtrack late nights, shadows, and flickering candles. But on the project’s latest, Blaising expands the sonic footprint of Feu Follet while still staying true what came before.
New single “Fluid Bodies” is the outlier, a brash punk rock blast that is reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age, Wire, and post-punk of the late 70s variety. Guest vocalist Vlimmer(Donat) gives the song a swift kick in its leather pants with both Mark E Smith and Robert Smith abandon. “Fluid Bodies” is the kind of song that gets the lazy bones out of their seats and pogo up and down until the song ends.
Here’s what Alban Blaising had to say about the song:
“For “Fluid Bodies” it often started with experiments on my modular synth with this sound that we hear from the start, a sine wave processed in a wavefolder. Then I put the bass on top and made a lot of other electronic sounds like the middle break or that weird sound you hear on the last verse (I don’t even know how I created that one anymore and would be unable to reproduce it currently). Subsequently the bass made me think of a big rock rhythm, I cleaned up the electronic side by replacing it with guitar riffs and in the same spirit I made a fairly punk chorus.”
“As on most of the tracks on the new album, I had a little more fun with my guitars, even if the electronic elements remain very present in the composition process and in many parts, I wanted the album to sound a little more rock and that can be heard particularly on this composition.”
Listen to “Fluid Bodies” below. ‘Lost Locust’ arrives 10/6 on Blackjack Illuminist Records
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