VILLENEUVE ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
‘NOW I AM ALONE BEFORE THE STARS’
RELEASED 1ST MAY THROUGH M83 LABEL ‘OTHER SUNS’
LISTEN HERE
Photo credit: Julien Gester
French composer and producer Benoît de Villeneuve, known as Villeneuve, returns with a striking new album that cements his reputation as one of France’s most enigmatic new composers. Fusing electronics with acoustic instrumentation, moving between meditative stillness and visceral intensity, ‘Now I Am Alone Before The Stars’ delivers an immersive body of work made for the new listening generation.
“Wanting to give meaning to music sometimes makes no sense. Especially today, when the news is getting worse every day. One thing that remains is the luxury of being able to do good for others, and for oneself. Personally, it’s by turning on my machines and losing myself in sound. For as long as possible. As far as possible. I hope these tracks will perhaps give you feelings similar to mine. Each track was born from improvisation with my modular synths.” (Villeneuve)
This follows almost 12 months since the last Villeneuve album, ‘Soul Tuning’, a year that’s also seen music on Other Suns from M83 – ‘Resurrection’ soundtrack – and Kaela’s debut album ‘Supraliminal’.
Originally conceived as an open-ended modular synthesiser experiment and first released on cassette via the Scum Yr Earth label, ‘Now I Am Alone Before The Stars’ was inspired by the dreamlike cinematic language of João César Monteiro’s ‘Silvestre’.
‘Now I Am Alone Before The Stars’ inspired Anthony Gonzalez of M83 to release the album on his label ‘Other Suns’, and has rekindled the creative relationship between the two artists dating back to the second M83 studio album ‘Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts’ (2004), the two now working together on forthcoming M83 projects and film soundtracks.
Since emerging from Paris in the early 2000’s, Villeneuve has developed a singular body of work spanning ambient electronics, experimental composition and film scores, influenced by Sonic Youth to Nine Inch Nails, Aphex Twin and Autechre. Using cutting-edge digital tools alongside classical instruments such as piano, harpsichord and percussion, he bridges the organic past with the digital future.
‘Now I Am Alone Before The Stars’ was composed and performed at The Auber Mansion, produced by Doucement, mastered by Jean-Charles Bastion, with artwork by Jean-Philippe Talaga.
In an era of noise and immediacy, Villeneuve offers a rare space to disappear, reflect, and feel.
![]()
Tracklist:
- Before
- Stars
- Now
- I
- Alone
- Am
- The
- Now I Am Alone Before The Stars
|
