Photo by Andy Julia

French heavy shoegaze practitioners Alcest have confirmed the arrival date of their long-awaited seventh studio album, Les Chants De L'Aurore. Set to land June 21st via Nuclear Blast Records, the project marks the first full length studio album since 2019's Spiritual Instinct. 

Along with the announcement of the record, Alcest has shared the first offering from the endeavor with the masterful introduction, "L'Envol" Coupled with an otherworldly video helmed by French artist Yoann Lossel, the single offers an auspicious start to the campaign for an album some five years in the making. 

Alcest driving creative force and principal songwriter Neige offered some added insight to the depth of the track and how it serves well in encompassing the breadth of an album that explores so much creative terrain. 

"'L'Envol' is a musical return to the atmosphere of Alcest's first albums. I wrote this song after an inspiring trip to Corsica, where I met amazing people and was surrounded by some of the most unique landscapes I have ever seen. It is about escaping from earthly reality to join a flock of mythical birds flying through the known boundaries of our world. The song is accompanied by a music video created by the talented French artist Yoann Lossel, who also designed the album cover."

Adding how the track sets the tone for the album as a whole, Neige added, "For this first single release, we wanted the music, lyrics and visuals to be as coherent and immersive as possible. All the tracks on Les Chants de l'Aurore are very different from one another, but we thought this one would be a great introduction to the overall atmosphere and themes of the album."

In celebration of the album, Alcest will embark on a lengthy live tour later this year that will see the band spend some two months on the road trekking throughout the EU/UK and beyond. A complete list of dates and cities can be found below.