Free as the air, swift as water, the captivating French composer lets himself be carried by inspiring encounters to craft an album that is both shifting and tender.
Returning barely a year after his previous album, the superb River Age (2025), Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains continues his quest for moving sounds, as fluid and powerful as a torrent.
To forge his intoxicating new tracks, the Saintes-born artist found refuge in two places: the Green Castle, where he drafted demos during a residency, and the barge Adélaïde, home to Émile Papandréou of the group UTO, with whom he completed the project.
With the involvement of Clara Luciani or Yasmine Hamdan
“When I was aboard his barge, I spotted a map of towpaths in France, he tells us. This word, ‘halage’, stuck with me not only because it reminded me of River Age, but also because I love the sense of give‑and‑take you feel when you’re carried by others. I thought it would add more interest to these pieces to open them up to collaborations rather than keeping them solely within my voice and message.”
Among the crew of this new odyssey are his friends Clara Luciani (on the tender duet Remember, written on piano by Siau, and already featured on River Age with Rozi Plain), David Numwami (on Mirror Skins and his nocturnal electro-pop), Yasmine Hamdan (on a subtle adaptation of River Man by Nick Drake) and Ëda Diaz (on Arte y Vida, a Franco-Spanish cover of a song by UTO).
Driven by this collective energy and the desire to move quickly into a new project, he finds the path forward after creating two flagship tracks for this record with Émile Papandréou: the catchy Shine in the Night and the punchy Try Now, which opens Halage with fanfare.
Between Acoustic Languor and Subtle Electronic Effects
“It was enchanting to work with someone fast and rhythm‑oriented,” Frànçois explains. “It was a revelation to feel that I could rediscover what I loved in his own productions just as easily in what we created together.”
The result captivates with its instinctive feel, like the lullaby Calcule pas, which one can imagine the songwriter whispering to his baby. A soothing conclusion to this Halage between acoustic languor and discreet electronic effects, both spontaneous and refined.
Halage (InFiné/Bigwax). Release on April 3.
