‘Click Interview’ with Foretaste: ‘This Album Is About The End Of Everything’
French Foretaste duo this year unleashed their sixth album in history. The work has been again released on BOREDOMproduct. Driven by C_XX and X_XY, Foretaste also released their first new full length since 2016. The production remains Minimal/Electro-Pop like, but appears to be the band’s most intimate work to date. “Happy End” is an intriguing title released during uncertain times of the ongoing pandemic. The music doesn’t sound happy at all, but reflects a dark- and sometimes experimental approach. I asked a few questions to both protagonists.
(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: “Happy End” is your first new album in five years. How do you see and consider this work in Foretaste’s discography and your personal evolution as artists?
C_XX : We are aware that this album may sound different from previous ones. When we started writing songs 2 or 3 years ago, we wanted something very intimate and not over-produced.
C_XY : At the same time we also wanted to experiment with new things in terms of production, getting our sound a bit dirtier. It’s not always easy to get out of your comfort zone, and for the first time we tried to make our songs as light as possible.
Q: “Happy End” has been composed and recorded in 2020 and is obviously connected with the ongoing pandemic. What did you try to express in sound and lyrics? Did the pandemic had an impact on your way of working and the release of the album?
C_XX: To be honest we wrote all the songs one year before the pandemic and 50% of the production work was done before 2020. Fortunately we had time to see each other and record the vocal parts before the first lockdown.
C_XY: So during the lockdown I was able to fine-tune the production of the album. I don’t think that this crisis has changed anything on this album, even the title “Happy End”! was found before the pandemic. I don’t know if we can call it a happy accident…
Q: I can’t get away there’s a cynical undertone in the title of the album, but how do we have to understand it?
C_XX: Of course it’s cynical, several fans wrote to us asking if this was also the end of Foretaste. I would like to reassure them that this is not the way we have planned the end of the band.
C_XY: Globally this album is about the end of everything because we are passionate about this subject and we would be very curious to see how the end of the world would look like.
Q: The song “Pure Madness”, which according to me is one of the best pieces, is dedicated to ‘spacejumper’ Felix Baumgartner. What inspired you to write a song about him?
C_XY : I was fascinated to see the video of his jump. The image that stays in my mind is seeing him standing at the door of his capsule. He was watching the earth alone in space, I always wondered what he was thinking about at that moment. It really inspired me.
Q: I got the feeling the new album also is your darkest one to date, but still sounding more intimate, Experimental and even Cinematographic. What’s your perception about it and what inspired you in the production process?
C_XX: It’s funny because the demos were not sad at all, some of them were quite happy! We didn’t want too many instruments in addition to my voice to give the album a more intimate dimension.
C_XY: Our previous album “Space Echoes” was like a super-production to us and it also was very hard to produce. We decided to use the 2 or 3 analog synths that we liked the most so that we didn’t get bogged down in technology. Even the drums were recorded with these synths.
Q: How do you see the future of Foretaste and the solo-project Creature XY?
C_XX: We are already writing new songs together and we would also like to play live again one day…
C_XY: I’m finalizing the 2nd album of The Overlookers with JB from Dekad. Then I’ll try to work on my solo-project.
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