Sometimes “cinematic” can be a lazy catchall to describe music, but for Laura Cahen’s De l’Autre Côté, it’s both accurate and essential. Cahen’s third album not only feels epic – a vivid, layered world steeped in atmosphere – her writing also draws inspiration from the films she personally loves. Here, Melancholia‘s apocalyptic dread meets the rebellious spirit of Thelma and Louise, while Blue Jean‘s dangerous intimacy pulses through a story as vast and yearning as the star-dusted grandeur of Interstellar.
Cahen describes the album as “a voyage,” exploring “a world not far from our own… where two women fall desperately in love and leave their town to find a place where their love might have a chance to exist.”
The title, meaning ‘From the other side,’ isn’t just about its story, but also the thoughtful writing process behind the album, and where it was created. Much of De l’Autre Côté was written near the sea and its presence is felt subtly throughout – not in a romanticised sense, but as a grounding force. You can hear it in the analog hiss of tape, the cries of seagulls, and the ebb and flow of the arrangements. Cahen worked with Mike Lindsay (Tunng, LUMP) in his Margate studio, bringing in the string arrangements of French-British composer Joséphine Stephenson (Damon Albarn, Daughter). Lindsay’s collection of vintage synths and analog equipment provides the album’s seventies retro-futuristic warmth, while Stephenson’s compositions, performed by the 12 Ensemble, add a certain ‘cinematic’ swoosh. The album’s themes—love, survival, escape— flow by on an unpredictable watery surface, intersecting with her favoured topics: women “in life and in the world,” environmental crises, queerness, and equal rights. Cahen’s inspirations, from Margaret Atwood to Virginia Woolf, fill every corner of the album, giving it a rich, deliberate and vital feminist perspective.
‘Fusées’ opens the record with a glow that feels both intimate and expansive, its AI-enhanced production wrapping Cahen’s voice in a soft, ethereal halo. The technology works invisibly, not as a cold addition but as a means to accentuate the delicate balance between strength and fragility, emotion and innovation.
‘Les Astres’ follows, a lush soundscape woven with Tropicalia-inspired guitars, sighing strings, and a rich undercurrent of bass. It captures the awe and magic of love’s first spark. “It’s that moment when everything changes,” Cahen explains. “It’s immense, like the stars.” The track itself feels both boundless and grounded, a collision of the infinite and the immediate.
On ‘Partout,’ there’s a playful tension between its bittersweet lyrics and the rhythmic propulsion beneath as Cahen sings, “I am the boat that can’t stay afloat with you no longer here”. The arrangements are uplifting enough to resist the undertow of sadness, creating an engaging contrast that is both heartfelt and spirited – a dance on the edge of melancholy, always teetering but never falling
The emotional depth and variety on De L’Autre Côté is what makes it thoroughly engaging. ‘Quitter la ville’ feels more anxious, more cautious, its fluttering keyboards evoking the limbo and indecision in the moments leading to departure. Then, on ‘La Maison,’ wistful reflections carry us to the warmth of happier times, only to be shadowed by the poignant realisation that those moments are forever out of reach. Elsewhere, the intricate guitar on ‘Les Ombres’ initially weaves gently around Cahen’s chanson phrasing before building out into more angular electronica. By contrast, ‘Nulle Part’ draws you in with its understated elegance, but it doesn’t stay quiet for long. A distant, distorted guitar searches for its way through the mix, wailing and encircling the layers of flutes and synths, its restless ache eventually cutting through just before the track closes in silence.
Cahen’s presence also shines among the quieter moments like ‘Falaise’ and ‘Je Reste’. They ripple softly, creating space for her crystalline voice to take centre stage. Like Adrienne Lenker, Cahen invites us into her world, dismantling the barriers between musician and audience. Even if you have no grasp of the language, there remains a clear and deeply felt human connection.
The album closes with ‘Puisque tu pars’, a farewell carried by trembling strings. As the song fades away, we’re left standing at a threshold, invited to imagine what lies beyond. Haunting and quietly resolute, it’s a fitting close to a record that balances hope with reality.
Few albums carry the quiet power of De l’Autre Côté. Across its ten tracks, Laura Cahen reflects on love, identity, and the precariousness of the world. “It’s a world where bombs never cease falling, the ecological crisis is spreading every single day, and governments are becoming increasingly conservative and radical,” Cahen observes. But even in this, she uncovers moments of beauty and connection that feel quietly enduring, yet utterly of the moment.
A magical, bold and imaginative journey, De L’Autre Côté is essential listening.
De L’Autre Côté is released on 24th January, via [PIAS].
