Les Chants de l'aurore

Les Chants de l'Aurore is Alcest's second with Nuclear Blast, after their 2019 album Spiritual Instinct.^[3] Before writing the album, Neige, Alcest's primary songwriter, suffered from writer's block during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a year, he broke out of it and wrote "L'Envol", which later became the lead single.^[4] Neige stated that he intentionally tried to emulate the lighter sound of Alcest's earlier albums, as he tended "to be quite melancholic in my daily life, so I [wanted] to make this kind of beautiful music to cheer myself up". Les Chants de l'Aurore was recorded at Neige's home instead of a studio.^[5] "L'Envol" was released as the lead single from Les Chants de l'Aurore on 23 February 2024.^[6] "Flamme Jumelle" followed on 18 April 2024, as the album's second single.^[7]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Blabbermouth.net	8/10[9]
Decibel	6/10[10]
Exclaim!	7/10[11]
Kerrang!	3/5[12]
Metal.de	8/10[13]
Metal Hammer	[14]
MetalSucks	[3]
Rock Hard	8.5/10[15]

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According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Les Chants de l'Aurore received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 from four critic scores.^[8] Dom Lawson of Blabbermouth.net wrote that Les Chants de l'Aurore had "stunningly beautiful songs, performed with metal-friendly fire and intensity, but fully committed to the warmth of a new and positive dawn".^[9] Marko Djurdić wrote in Exclaim! that "while it still falls short of some of their most celebrated works, the album is gloriously cinematic, although never really surprising".^[11] Olly Thomas stated in a review for Kerrang! that the album "often feels like something of a journey, and if the specific destination is ambiguous, the direction is very much into the light".^[12] Matt Mills wrote in Metal Hammer that while the album went through "well trodden territory… [Alcest's] signature style still plucks heartstrings".^[14] Max Heilman criticized the album's mixing in a MetalSucks review, but stated that "Les Chants de l’Aurore remains plenty of examples of bonafide Alcest awesomeness".^[3]

According to AllMusic:^[16]

Alcest

• Neige – vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, piano, glockenspiel, mixing, recording, arrangements
• Winterhalter – drums, percussion, sound engineering, recording

Additional contributors

• Elise Aranguren – additional vocals
• Chris Edrich – mixing
• Førtifem – layout
• Gregory Hoepffner – arrangements
• France Lafumat – additional vocals
• Gisli Gunnarsson – additional vocals, arrangements
• Mika Jussila – mastering
• Andy Julia – photography
• Yoann Lossel [fr] – cover art
• Haruna Nakaie – additional vocals, viola de gamba, Japanese spoken word
• Margot Gentil – additional vocals
• Sacha Gentil – additional vocals
• Ai Matsui – Japanese translation on "L'Enfant de la Lune"