About The Release

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Every so often in music, we come across voices that achieve a certain timelessness, so naturally do they encapsulate both past and present. French artist, Laure Briard is one of these voices; retro in form but contemporary at heart, spanning a career rich in aesthetic twists and turns, never without her signature magic.

 

Laure Briard first emerged with Révélation (2015) and Sur la piste de danse (2016), crafting warm, yé-yé-inspired French pop rooted in ‘60s nostalgia and melodic simplicity. A transformative tour of Brazil broadened her palette, leading to collaborations with Boogarins and a series of Portuguese-language releases that introduced bossa nova rhythms and a more fluid, exploratory approach. From there, her sound deepened and matured—Un peu plus d'amour s'il vous plaît (2019) showcases richer, more intricate arrangements and a growing folk sensibility, while Ne pas trop rester bleue (2023) shifts toward expansive, cinematic songwriting, drawing on Western imagery and myth to create a more atmospheric, introspective body of work.

In Voyage Mental, Laure Briard draws upon an inner energy unearthed during a new stage in her life, where the thrill of spontaneous adventure is not accessible in quite the same way. The result is a collection of sophisticated, introspective songs, narrating a young mother’s quest for balance in the face of routine. The album, nostalgic but always tethered to the present moment, is also the fruit of her collaboration with Gaëtan Nonchalant, a talented musician known for coaxing poetry out of the mundane. The two of them co-wrote and recorded five tracks at Studio Nocturne, accompanied by her long-time sidekick Pieuvre, aka Vincent Guyot, Léo Blomov, Pierre-Louis Vizioz, and Hedi Bensalem.

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The gentle pop opener “Rocking Chair” sways steadily to the rhythm of dynamic drums, followed by “Le Train,” a ballad that extends an invitation to set sail and daydream alone. The folk escapade continues with “Golden Sun,” a duet featuring the 1960s cult American musician F.J. McMahon, who Laure contacted via the internet on a whim. “Golden Sun” is an unlikely encounter between two generations and two cultures, giving new life to an old forgotten demo on the other side of the Atlantic. And while Laure sings of wide open spaces, cowboys, and sunsets sinking into the sea, we feel the city surrounding her in “Miroir,” a song composed by Hedi Bensalem that laments the suffocation of living in a crowded metropolis where the sky is a distant gray smudge. This pressing need for air, this search for rest and total disconnection, is one of the album's central themes. It may also explain the ever-present sense of nostalgia that pervades the songs, a welcome respite in our current era of doomscrolling and darkness. Along the way, Laure soothes us with melancholy guitar, delivers poetry set to scattered piano notes, and takes us by the hand during lively, uptempo passages. We climb onto her wings, never straying too far from the ground, soaring joyfully above her moods.

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Laure Briard's new record Voyage Mental will be out on June 5th 2026, on vinyl and digital platforms via Third Eye Stimuli (AU/NZ) and Midnight Special Records (ROW). Distributed by Redeye Worldwide.

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Tracklist

 

1. Rocking Chair
2. Le Train
3. Golden Sun
4. Miroir
5. Voyage Mental
6. Surprises
7. Je Comprends Pas
8. Respire
9. Sentimental Lies
10. Force Invisible
11. C’est Quoi Ces Gens
12. My Two Hours of Sleep
13. Astrale Maison
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Credits

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Laure Briard: Vocals, Drums (3, 6, 12)
Vincent Guyot: Piano (1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 12), Keyboards (4, 6, 9, 10, 12), Guitar (2, 7, 8, 9), Bass (10), Backing Vocals (2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12)
Gaétan Nonchalant: Guitars (1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11), Bass (12, 13), Backing Vocals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Hedi Bensalem: Bass (1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11), Guitar (4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13), Flutes (2, 4, 8, 10, 13), Mandola (9), Chorus (2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13)
Pierre-Louis Vizioz: Drums (1, 2, 9, 11), Percussion (4, 6, 8)
Leo Blom's: Piano (4, 8, 10, 13), Claviset, Bass, Double Bass, Guitar (8), Chorus (4, 10)
Marius Duflot: Echo Stage (6, 12, 13)
 

1, 5, 10: written by Laure Briard and Gaétan Nonchalant, composed by Gaétan Nonchalant
2, 6, 8, 9, 13: written by Laure Briard
2: composed by Vincent Guyot
3: Written and composed by F. J. McMahon
4: Written and composed by Hedi Bensalem
6: composed by Gaétan Nonchalant
7: written and composed by Vincent Guyot
8: composed by Leo Blom's
9: composed by Winter McQuinn
11: Written and composed by Gaétan Nonchalant
12: Written by Laure Briard and Sarah Maison, composed by Sarah Maison
13 : composé par Hedi Bensalem
 

Photography: Lisa Boostani
Graphic design: Clémentine Lamazères
Recording and mixing: Marius Duflot
Assistant: Phileas Dubois
At the Nocturnes studio
Master : Bertrand Fresel