Esthesis
Last year was one to forget for many, but for French prog rockers Esthesis it was one to savour, with their impressive debut, The Awakening, helping them ensnare best unsigned band in the Prog Readers’ Poll. As mainman Aurélien Goude tells us, things are
Winners of Best Unsigned Band in the Readers’ Poll introduce themselves.
“Everyone knows how tough the world of music is, with too many bands to listen to,” Esthesis ringleader Aurélien Goude says. “Fortunately, there are still a lot of people who like to discover new records.”
The musician is buoyant, and rightly so, after his band reigned supreme in the unsigned section of Prog’s 2020 Readers’ Poll. Their win was no fluke. The French quartet’s debut, The Awakening, is an assured album, as sharp as a handshake with Edward Scissorhands, flitting between the lucid dreaming of Pink Floyd and the angular attack of Porcupine Tree. Its genesis can be traced back to last spring’s lockdown, with Goude writing songs in solitude before zapping them over to his bandmates.
“We only saw each other three or four times before recording, but I was so demanding with the band that we worked a lot during these months,” he says.
“We recorded guitars, bass, drums and vocals in July and August, in two great recording studios in Toulouse,” he continues. “Then I recorded my keyboards in my home studio, because I’m too much of a perfectionist and a control freak!”
Lyrically the six-track record, which is never afraid to freefall into melancholy, pirouettes on the idea of identity. “We live in a society with increasing identity issues,” Goude explains.
“In a [romantic] relationship, for instance, we can sometimes wonder if we are really our true selves. This is also the case at work or on social networks. The record invites people to ask questions about themselves and their vision of society.”
The album follows on from
Esthesis’ 2019 EP, Raising Hands, and it’s a tangible step up for the Frenchmen – a bigger budget helped mould the sonics, and the songwriting is afforded space to breathe.
“The Awakening is more personal, mature, moody, eclectic, and the piano is very important on the record, unlike the EP,”
Goude says. “The two next records will be very different from each other, even if they will be a continuation of The Awakening. But it won’t be a double album, for sure.”
Dip into Goude’s pool of inspiration and it’s like a party of standout musicians from different decades: Steven Wilson chats with Floyd, Kate Bush is over there by the drinks cupboard, Philip Glass and Ennio Morricone are in deep discussion while The Beatles and Massive Attack chow down on some nibbles.
“Many bands have influenced us, but we hope we have succeeded in creating our own identity,” he says.
“I constantly listen to old and new music; it’s essential for me to discover new records and bands in all genres. For instance, we will release an alternate version of Still Far To Go in March. It will be a trip hop version inspired by my taste in Massive Attack and Portishead.”
It’s clear from the first few seconds of The Awakening’s 16-minute opener, Downstream, that this band is not all about 100mph fretboard gymnastics. Esthesis’ heartbeat is more attuned to aura and feeling, the composition coloured by long brushstrokes.
“The music of Esthesis is primarily based on emotion and ambience,” Goude says. “Silences are very important to me in music. Without them, there are no dynamics at all.
“I wanted each song to be like a movie, with very different ambience. Each has its own place in the record, and we paid particular attention to the transitions between tracks. I feel much closer to Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree and Marillion than Yes or Genesis in our sound.”
Goude began writing music in 2013 when he was a student and found a knack for forming a “vision” of a track before sitting down to piece it together. Using Nine Inch Nails and his linchpin Trent Reznor as an inspiration, he describes Esthesis as more of a solo project than a traditional band: “even if I always try to surround myself with great musicians to enrich the songs and add new ideas.
“[Lead guitarist] Baptiste Desmares, [bassist] Marc Anguill and [drummer] Florian Rodrigues are very talented and they all brought their own identity to the record,” he continues.
“I met and hired them only several months before the recording process of The Awakening. I wanted open-minded and eclectic musicians who were able to play few notes, but the right ones. I can’t play with musicians who play too many notes!”
The group are based in Toulouse, although Goude is originally from Paris. While he doesn’t regard himself as an expert on France’s prog acts, he pinpoints Lazuli and Ange as the country’s two “essential” bands in the scene.
“Unfortunately, too many French magazines and radio stations aren’t interested in progressive rock,” he concedes. “I’m not surprised at all that the majority of our sales are now in foreign countries, even if it’s only our debut album.”
Goude is more influenced by bands outside his own country – Air being the exception – and when he was a child The Beatles, Sting, Supertramp and Toto filled the airwaves.
“I discovered progressive music at 14, with The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd. What attracted me directly was the feeling of travelling with sound,” he says. “That’s what interests me most about progressive music when I write a new song for Esthesis, I want listeners to have the feeling of travelling with the music, and to imagine the stories they want.”
The Awakening is a stellar springboard towards a bright future. But whatever happens next, this is a band that won’t be sitting still.
“I’ve already started work on albums two and three,” Goude lets slip. “Of course, the pandemic is slowing us down a bit for concerts, but we have many plans to move forward, including a livestream in February with two songs played in live conditions. I don’t have time to get bored.”