French Polymath ALIAS releases the pulsing new single "EMPTY HEAD" - taken from his upcoming album EMBRACE CHAOS out April 19
NEW ALBUM ‘EMBRACE CHAOS’, OUT APRIL 19TH THROUGH SIMONE RECORDS
CONFIRMED FOR FOCUS WALES ON MAY 9 & 11TH
After recently announcing the details behind his eagerly-awaited new album EMBRACE CHAOS, which features the previously shared singles “CURSED” and “TRUTH OR TRUST”, French Polymath ALIAS continues the support for his upcoming LP with his pulsing new offering “EMPTY HEAD”.
Developing more of that brilliant genre-bending aesthetic he has been growing these last few months, “EMPTY HEAD” sees him in one of his most explorative guises yet. Blending hard and heavy production with some wonderfully infectious hooks from start to finish, he continues to shine as one of the more essential names rising through the ranks right now.
Adding about “EMPTY HEAD”, he said, "My intention when I created this song was to blend fuzz into hip-hop elements. I had this idea to mix a fuzzy bass with a drum machine and use all the broken cymbals I had and placed them on the floor to create this noisy percussion on the beat. The first 8 bars I recorded really made me want to have Cadence Weapon featured on this track. Kroy and I worked on a few projects together before and I needed to have her unique darkness into the song…EMPTY HEAD is about all the weird and bad sides of ourselves that, in a strange way, we embrace."
On his brilliant second album, French artist ALIAS urges you to EMBRACE CHAOS, as he unveils this intoxicating new collection of songs. This record is a huge statement by a true polymath, whose music reflects the chaos inside – the dark urges we’re often too scared to confront.
“It’s inner chaos, turmoil… but it’s a positive thing, too, because you should be aware of your dark side,” the musician born Emmanuel Alias explains. “For me, this album is saying, ‘release the beast’. Because we all have that inside of us, something that can take control of our body and make us do things we didn’t know we were capable of.”
EMBRACE CHAOS is a noticeable departure from the bright psychedelic sound of ALIAS’s earliest work. Buzzing with dark, murky synths and his ominous, reverb-laden vocals, listeners will identify nods to innovators such as Beck, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Nirvana and LCD Soundsystem. The heady visuals this music conjures, meanwhile, is testament to ALIAS’s work contributing to TV and film scores.
Raised in the picturesque town of Aix-en-Provence in south France, ALIAS studied jazz at prestigious conservatoires in both Marseilles and his hometown. But growing disillusioned with the strict rules being placed upon him, he decided to step out on his own, first to New York, then to Montreal, Canada, where he was enlisted as a contributor for hit TV shows including Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects.
As the pandemic hit, ALIAS hunkered down and made his debut EP, It’s Not Funny So Stop Smilin’, an ambitious work where the rulebook went sailing out the window. “At this point we had no idea what was happening in the world, and I wanted to have some fun,” he says. “I felt like the best way to approach the music was by removing it from all expectations.” It matched his newly formed artistic persona, as a sort of character created especially for the stage.
Released via Simone Records in 2021, It’s Not Funny So Stop Smilin’ includes the astounding “Kyra Collins”, a trippy collaboration with Canadian artist Beyries full of sun-dappled harmonies and wonky, Beatles-indebted piano. There’s also the frenetic “Why Don’t You Wanna Dance?”, with its buzzsaw guitar riff, and the squelchy sleaze of “Mad”.
Stop Smilin’ was swiftly followed by Jozef, ALIAS’s acclaimed debut that happened to mark a drastic shift in tone in his music. “Each song was written like an emotion felt by this character, Jozef, I’d created,” he explains. “I always want to have a different personality in my music.” A fan of horror films and thrillers, ALIAS spun an intricate web of details about Jozef’s life: “He’s living these weird, extreme feelings. For me it was a way, once again, to express myself through someone who doesn’t really exist.”
Which brings us to EMBRACE CHAOS, his latest opus. Like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, ALIAS is both the genius and the monster on this record; the creator who hides behind the terror he’s unleashed. On “CURSED”, he sings in a frantic, muttering half-rap: “First thing’s first, she said my heart is sick/ I’ve been cursed, you’d better make it quick.” The drums shudder like corrugated steel in a bitter storm; the synths are bright, Eighties-leaning.
What’s immediately apparent on EMBRACE CHAOS is ALIAS’s willingness to lose himself completely in his art. This is a character study of such intensity that, by the time the final track plays, you feel almost uncomfortably intimate with the persona he’s created. “I’m a dance in the dark/ I’m an electric shock,” he hisses on “EMPTY HEAD”, over murky analogue synths and shuffling beats. Immerse yourself in ALIAS’s fascinating world. Embrace the chaos.
‘EMBRACE CHAOS’ Tracklist:
SAIGON
EMPTY HEAD
TRUTH OR TRUST
BAD KIDS
DEMO 3 (I WANNA HUG YOU SO BAD)
MOTHER LOVE
EVIL TWIN
WATER CALLS
CURSED
DIET COKE ON ICE
OLD MAN
COCKTAILS AND DREAMS
DISCOVER ALIAS