Frànçois and the Atlas Mountains are releasing their first LP since transitioning labels from Domino to InFiné, Âge Fleuve. It’s an album which culminated out of the pandemic, also being made as Frànçois lost his father; one that carefully considers the small joys, heritage, life-affirmations, and connection.
It’s been over a decade since those afro-pop percussions chimed home with Glasgow, performing at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections and LPs released through Fence Records, and feeling at home with The BMX Bandits and the Pastels, but tonally this new album speaks to those times.
What can we look forward to from Âge Fleuve?
I think it has the softness and the vibe from the early Plaine Inondable album, the album that came out on Fence back in the day, it has that kind of tone to it. An album quite intimate.
I would agree with that. This new album sounds a bit more sedate, quite reflective. You’ve said it was deeply influenced by the loss of your father during the pandemic, that it looks a lot at roots and nostalgia. Did you find it a cathartic way to deal with your grief, creating this LP?
I was in the process of making it when it happened; it felt more like one of the ingredients amongst many. But I guess it made the overall flavour fuller maybe, giving more variety to it. I can understand the nostalgia, that kind of it comes out of the listening. But also, I found losing someone can boost you, in that you consider that it’s very important to connect with the people you love and connect with the things you have to do in your lifetime.
So, I didn’t feel like I was ‘I’m sad. I’m writing songs and will get better.’ I felt like I was very proactive throughout that period. And I hope there is some of that feeling of the light of life going forward in the album; the current of life, the flow of life, moving forward.
It has a life affirming feel to it. It’s a joyful listen. To me, it considers quite a lot of the small, finer things, and I guess you kind of answered the question, but I was going to ask if this was your intention, and what you’re hoping to produce. Tracks like ‘Adorer’ and ‘Aïeul Inconnu’ are wonderful listens.
Yeah, I think that’s the one that sums up the album for me, ‘Aïeul Inconnu’, because it has all the percussions that were made from bits of material that is in the new house that I refurbished by the forest. Also, I brought lots of the stuff that I inherited from my dad into that house. Not so much but a few elements that I use, especially like a big knife that I used to chop wood to put in the stove.
It’s quite an interesting tool, because it comes from my ancestor, it comes from my dad, and now I have it in my house, and it’s the tool that I use to heat up the house.
‘Party’ is such a great first single from the album, though a more introspective and contemplative ballad than you might initially expect from such a title. It plays with expectations. What was the intention with this track?
It’s totally a play on the word, because when you say it in French, ‘partir’ means when you have left somewhere. The song is about someone who has left Earth and gone to the afterlife but it’s also, as I said earlier, when you lose someone, also a kind of celebration as well, of the remaining time on Earth. So, there is that, that double aspect in them, in the process, so that was the reason behind calling it ‘Party.’
There’s a nice duality there, which maybe leads on to one of my questions. I can’t help but ask a question about David Lynch. I think he’s such an incredible artist to affect us all. Was this polymath much of an influence for you with the work that you create, Francois?
I’m very affected by it. It’s a reminder of how important some mentors and artists have been for the construction of our way; in the way we can understand the world around us and appreciate the places. I think he brought so much to people who saw his art, who saw his films, and listened to his music. He brought us so much about the way we can be a bit more attentive, a bit more focused on what’s around us. That’s the way I see it anyway.
He was very important in many aspects. Obviously, it’s the work he produces – very mystic and elegant. Very classic films, very classic imagery. At the same time, he used a lot of modernity and there is also something very humanist to his work. The way he helped the viewers and people who appreciated him, I think he brought them techniques to go beyond fear and go beyond anxiety, go beyond sorrow.
And I think that’s a very strong message in his work, that there’s a way out of fear and there’s a way out of sorrow and there’s a way out of terror. Again, it’s an opportunity to celebrate all the things he brought, and there’s going to be a lot of projections of his films in cinemas, hopefully. I’m looking forward to that.
Going back to the LP, it’s very much a collaborative one with artists like Rozi Plain and Malik Djoudi. Was this process a real joy, working with these musicians that you’ve worked with in the past?
Totally. This album took a long time to produce as it took us a long time to find the right place and way to make it like a final product, something that would be coherent. There were various versions of the songs recorded with different bands before we recorded it for the release. There were a lot of collaborative processes.
The final result is very much the work of Siau, the producer. So, Gerard Black (Babe) does the backing vocals on some of the tracks, and Rozi does a duet with me and Eric and Thomas. As you said, it was a way to kind of bring back the collaborative aspect in the pot, but maybe it wasn’t so much of a collaborative process for the production of the track.
This is your sixth studio album from F&AM but your first release from InFiné, how did you find working with producer Siau, and transitioning to a new label?
Yeah, it’s very exciting. For the label InFiné, it’s an interesting release, because they haven’t been releasing so much of the French singer/songwriter type of music. They are more electronic, arty, abstract music so it’s really cool for them, because they see it as an opportunity to get in touch with different crowds and also, they kind of push me to explore more that side of my music, the kind of soundscaping side of music.
Francois and the Atlas Mountains’ new LP Âge Fleuve is out on 31st January via InFiné
Keep your eyes peeled for a possible Scottish gig on the tour
