With a third album in five years, Laurence-Anne continues to invite us into her mysterious universe with shifting contours. Oniromancy, which comes out Friday, is a hypnotic journey into the land of dreams which resembles a surrealist painting, but above all which bears the unique signature of a prolific creator.
Unlike most of us, Laurence-Anne remembers the majority of her dreams, which often even haunt her days. Several of the songs of this girl of chiaroscuro more than light, an assumed nocturnal who knows her moments of inspiration especially at night, reverberate dreamlike echoes since Première apparition, her first album released in 2019.
But Oniromancy goes further: the 11 pieces of the album are a total immersion in his dreams and his unconscious, populated by chimerical images and strange textures, like the landscapes that flow in a painting by Dali. An intangible world that she tried to translate into words and sounds.
“It’s really a question of places, landscapes, atmosphere,” explains the singer-songwriter. And it’s not always the enchanting or peaceful side of the dream that we find there, there are also nightmares and more distressing states, like the sleep paralysis that she evokes in Polymorphe.
“The term oniromancy, which means divination through dreams, I found that it worked with songs. Because they talk about experiences that I had, or situations that I was going through that I understood through dreams. »
We can find Laurence-Anne a little esoteric, and she admits it right away with a smile. “Yes, I am, in a sense. It’s not a secret. » She thought a little.
From there to say that she prefers dreams to reality, there is only one step. The ambient anxiety and “the facts of everything that is happening around” in 2023 are good reasons to escape a little, she believes.
“I’m not really a reality girl. But I don’t live in denial either! This is why I have lots of questions about the place of music today. What do you do as a musician? If we can do good for at least one person, it will have been worth the effort. »
Laurence-Anne has always loved vaporous atmospheres and sound textures, and the theme of dreams has allowed her to push her explorations even further. To sculpt the slightly distorted world of Oniromancy, she worked for two years with her co-director François Zaïdan, a musician who works more in the field of experimental music. The result, made of reverberating loops and sounds that seem to have arrived from another world, ranges from hyper melodic song to more dissonant pieces and danceable electropop.
“The music speaks for itself. A song like Supernova, if you remove the words, you know you’re in a starry night place, with sparks… We can imagine ourselves somewhere. »
It is not for nothing that the dream pop of Laurence-Anne, whose work is “tinted” by the Cocteau Twins and other Beach House, has been noticed in the Anglo-Saxon world. She performed last spring at festivals in Wales, and two of her singles played on the radio there.
“Beyond the musical style, there is an interest in French. But I, too, like to listen to music in other languages. For example, Dina Ögon, she sings in Turkish, she comes from Scandinavian countries, I don’t mind not understanding. When you don’t stop at that, lots of doors open. »
The one who was a finalist at the Francouvertes in 2017 has long wanted to go beyond borders, and for her part opens every little door possible. For example, by putting a song in Spanish on her two most recent albums, to create bridges with Mexico, where she lived when she was younger. Bet paid off: she played there this summer solo, and she intends to return there with her musicians for a more substantial tour.
“As far as playing music, you might as well create openings to go play somewhere else, where people have an interest. »
After having been very productive for five years – three albums, an EP, in addition to her participation in the collective La Sécurité, which takes up a lot of her time – Laurence-Anne is taking a break before starting to write songs again. Oniromancy therefore marks the end of a creative cycle.
“I want to do something different. But there, the new shows begin. I’ll wait until the end of the tour, and see where the music takes me. » And where does she hope to take people with this new album?
“It’s kind of always the same thing. A place to escape, take a break, get away from the reality of everyday life. Take those 35-36 minutes, and just take the opportunity to take a little inner journey. Offer a little oasis. »
