Singled Out: Elyose's Vendredi Noir

Keavin Wiggins | 03-07-2023

Album art

French Nu-metallers Elyose recently released their new album, "Deviante". To celebrate we asked Anthony Chognard to tell us about the track, "Vendredi Noir." Here is the story:

Our last single Vendredi noir is out and I'm glad to talk about it today!
This is a very special song, and we tried a lot of new things on it: there's many blend of both music genres and vocals styles and I'd never expected it turned that good when I wrote it!

First, it has a 3/4 rhythm feel that swings and make the song groove. Verses are full electronics with keyboards and beats, so when the band hit the chorus it hits very hard.

I remember finding randomly the ambiance sample you can hear in the introduction. I was scanning through my Omnisphere patches holding one note of my keyboard when it came to me. The intro and ambiance was set, and it could work for a verse with a beat, so I decided to build from there.

After that the song came together really fast, I had a heavy riff I've written month ago (the main theme, right after the introduction), I just had to find a chorus and went for the heaviest breakdown I could find that night.

I wrote and recorded everything in my home studio in Montreal and then flew to Paris to record Justine.

For her vocals, we tried the Migos flow (also known as the triplet flow) on the verses. It's a rap style that was popularized by the Atlanta-based hip-hop group Migos. The flow is characterized by a triplet rhythm and rapid-fire delivery of lyrics over trap beats. We wanted something sung, but also punchy to maintain the rhythm and the tension through the song. In contrast, choruses hit very hard, and the vocals are more airy, giving space to the band rhythm.

The Opera style choirs during the blast beats on the bridge is one of my favorite part of the entire album, it's so epic! I remember we were so excited when we found this, we were jumping and screaming "yeaaaaah this is so epic, let's do it!!!"

The hard-hitting main riff made Jean-Baptise (lyricist and co-songwriter) think of the Black Friday riots. The theme of the song ends up being a critical commentary on consumerism, materialism, and the negative impact of Black Friday and similar events on society. The lyrics describe the frenzy of shoppers and the greed of businesses, as well as the way in which individuals are caught up in a cycle of consumption and desire that ultimately leaves them unfulfilled. The song also touches on issues of power and inequality, suggesting that the wealthy and powerful benefit at the expense of ordinary people.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here