Alcest - Les Chants De L'Aurore (2LP) - Yellow Black Marble Vinyl

Alcest has always chased light through noise, and Les Chants De L’Aurore feels like the sun finally crests the horizon. Released June 21, 2024 on Nuclear Blast, the record folds their blackgaze roots back into the luminous palette that made so many of us fall for Écailles de Lune and Kodama, while keeping the heft and intent of Spiritual Instinct. It is patient, melodic, and quietly ecstatic, the kind of album that makes you turn the volume up and breathe a little deeper.

Neige sings almost entirely in French again, which suits the material. His voice floats above the guitars like mist above a river, not showy, just deeply felt. Winterhalter remains the band’s anchor, tightening the songs with rolls and blasts that never bully the melodies. The balance they strike is the classic Alcest trick. Guitars shimmer and cascade, drums accelerate, and yet the whole thing feels gentle, like standing in bright wind.

“L’Envol” set the tone as an early single, and it still hits like a first sip of cold air. Chiming arpeggios bloom into tremolo waves, then the rhythm kicks up and you get that headrush unique to this band. The chorus is pure lift. “Flamme Jumelle,” its title nodding to the idea of a twin flame, leans warmer. The vocal lines are tender, almost pop in their stickiness, but the guitars still flare and fade with that familiar Alcest glow. If you came for the weight, you will find it in the crescendos. If you came for the dream, the verses are your refuge.

What makes Les Chants De L’Aurore special is how open it sounds. The production gives every element room to breathe. You can trace the high guitar harmonies as they arc above the rhythm, and when the distortion swells, it feels earned, not automatic. Bass moves with a soft pulse that keeps the songs forward. Even the blasts land with clarity. Alcest has never been about rawness for its own sake. They chase resonance, and this record hums with it.

It also feels like a return to the band’s original vision of an elsewhere just out of reach. Neige has spoken for years about that otherworld from his childhood, and the writing here leans into wonder without losing grit. There is more sky than shadow. Melodic lines tug at older motifs, so longtime listeners will catch echoes of Les Voyages de l’Âme in the way the choruses lift, and hints of Shelter in the gauzy guitar beds, but the pacing is sharper. Songs build with intention, then open up in these big, clear vistas that invite a smile rather than a scowl.

I kept thinking about how this will translate live. Alcest are expert at letting songs breathe on stage, and these arrangements seem built for rooms where cymbals can bloom and voices carry. Picture that last swell in “L’Envol” ringing through a theater, bodies swaying instead of moshing, and you get the point. It is heavy music for people who like to look up.

If you are hunting for Alcest vinyl, the Les Chants De L’Aurore vinyl pressing is the way to live inside these textures. The guitars have a glassy top that feels beautiful on a turntable, and the quieter passages land with that little bit of air you only get from wax. I have a soft spot for flipping an Alcest record and hearing the side open with a clean guitar figure drifting out of the speakers. That ritual suits their world. If you prefer to buy Alcest records online, you will find plenty of shops carrying it, and most stores that stock Alcest albums on vinyl will have this one front and center. Even friends in smaller scenes have spotted copies, so whether you dig through a Melbourne record store or scour shops that ship vinyl records Australia wide, it is out there.

Les Chants De L’Aurore is not just another chapter. It feels like a gentle statement of purpose. Alcest can still rage when they want to, but they do it with grace, and they write melodies that linger in the chest. If you have followed them since the early days, this plays like a sunrise you hoped they would eventually reach. If you are new, start here, then trace the light backward. Either way, it is a keeper, and on Alcest vinyl it feels even more like a world you can step into.