Finding a sublime equilibrium between the malevolent and the majestic, “Already Forgotten” flits from sunny to spooky in a beat. With ‘90s-tinted driving guitars pinned against buzzing drum beats and euphoric instrumentals, the track is an electric example of Hibou’s knack for conjuring sharp and surrealist images through his songs.
A glistening and gauzy track that finds the artist reflecting on the sands of time slipping between our fingers, Hibou explains of the song:
“”Already Forgotten” is a song about the pressure of what we do with the time that is given to us, and how easy it can be to slip into paths of indulgence. I wanted the drum machine and synth bass to drive this song while throwing a glittery and maniacal veil on top of it all. I worked with a British voice actor to record the Disney-esque samples, and aimed for a stark dichotomy between the sinister verses and uplifting choruses.”
Born in Seattle and now based in Paris, ‘Arc’ is Hibou’s first extended release in four years. Arriving alongside focus track “Already Forgotten”, the EP is the long-awaited follow-up to 2019 LP ‘Halve’, and the new body of work sees the artist emerge from his lengthy silence and reel listeners right back into the glistening whirlwind of his sound.
A delicate blend of lo-fi alt-pop, nostalgic shoegaze and diaphanous dream-pop, Peter Michel (aka Hibou) spent the summer writing the EP along the Canal de l’Ourcq, before recording in various apartments, bathrooms and rehearsal spaces in Paris. Engineered and produced by Michel himself, the multi-instrumentalist also performs vocals, guitar and bass on each track, with drums courtesy of Jase Ihler.
A dreamy and diverse project, ‘Arc’ melds together a rich amalgam of sounds: from the delicate and dazing “June” to the lush textures on “Night Fell” and from the eerie twanging guitars on “Devilry” to the stormy, seesawing soundscapes on “Upon The Clouds You Weep”.
Taking its name from “an electric arc between things, or arc lightning”, ‘Arc’ is both sentimental and stylish with its carefully composed melodies seeming to tap into long-forgotten, hazy memories from the past just as easily as they bolster hope for the future.
Inspired by shoegaze greats both past and present, Hibou’s elegant arrangements are hard to pin down, falling somewhere between the indie-rock tinted musings of Beach Fossils and DIIV, the folk-flecked intimacies of Alex G and the tenderly tormented sound of The Cure.
