Lancre’s debut single “Brume” was released on October 12th. For a debut, this is one of the most compelling I have listened to. I truly don’t speak a word of French, and this still got me. Their single is one of those songs where I was able to feel everything before understanding the meaning, and it held that way through the whole duration.
Their music video opens up with two guitarists washed in a faded, shaded yellow, and the instrumentation matches the setting, dream-like, otherworldly. For the first three minutes, the guitarists do the talking. It truly sets the tone for the song. Then the lead vocalist arrives. His voice is masculine with a little edge, but also soothing enough that I could almost fall asleep to it. It sounds like he wants you to believe in him, and I did. Underneath, the beat and the production are gorgeous. Everything is truly clean without losing its haze that first drew me in. For a 7-minute song, I am truly impressed with what it accomplished, and the fact that it is a debut single blows me away.
Once I looked up what the French means, the song made even more sense. The lyrics are a collage of childhood summer memories: a lizard on a stone wall seen from a swing, bikes dropped by the roadside, rain on an attic window, dust floating in the light. It’s nostalgia written as it slips away. I find this to be so beautiful, and I felt immersed in their world after a re-listen once I knew the lyrics for their true meaning.
The video follows the arc beautifully. Around the five-minute mark, a child plays with bubbles and then fades out, and it’s one of the loveliest moments I’ve seen in a music video this year. Then, at the 5-minute and 30-second mark, everything shifts, or at least to me. The track slows down and turns eerie, close to the unsettling tone of Ethel Cain’s Perverts. I am currently writing this at night, and it spooked me. The video closes on a woman in distorted lighting, shifting from red to white and orange, and then finally white. Walking out the door as the song ends. For me. That’s where the story ends, too.
“Brume” was composed, arranged, and written by Gregoire Reduand and Séverine Reduand. It blends post-rock, French lyrics, and cinematic visuals; its music video is stellar, please watch! Bravo to Lancre!!
Written by Anthony Perez
