Song You Need: Fievel Is Glauque remain mysterious

The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.

Fievel Is Glauque traffic in controlled chaos. The group — a multi-national conglomerate of world-class avant-garde musicians — make harmonies and rhythms that are super-sophisticated but as tidily rendered as any you’re likely to hear this year. Fronted by the agile vocalizations of Ma Clément and enriched by the mischievous keyboard stylings of Zach Philips — and a rotating cast of equally cheeky players — their songs are like intricate jigsaw puzzles, each jagged piece fitting snugly in its right place.

Last month, Fievel announced their debut studio LP, Flaming Swords (due out November 25 via MATH Interactive), with its rich, charming lead single, “Save The Phenomenon.” And last week, they shared the album’s second offering.

On “Clues Not to Read,” Flaming Swords’ four-and-a-half-minute closer, Clément rides a slippery groove in a shifting time signature, anchored by Gaspard Sicx’s nimble drumming and a jogging bass line from Anatole Damien. Phillips’ keys and Raphaël Desmarets’ tasteful guitar comping color between the lines, while Johannes Eimermacher provides the cherry on top with his triumphant alto sax flourishes. True to the track’s title and the band’s general vibe, Clément’s lyrics read like a series of Zen kōans — strange, paradoxical non-statements that provoke further intrigue, nourishing the music’s endearing mystery.

1. Flaming Swords
2. Save the Phenomenon
3. Nos Embranchments
4. Days of Pleasure
5. My Rebel
6. Little Bad Miracle
7. I’m a Place
8. Less to Be
9. Porn of Love
10. Boîte à Serpents
11. Paging Agent Starling
12. 4000 Rooms
13. Constantly Rare
14. Wrong Item
15. One Hope
16. The Trick
17. To Be Gone
18. Clues Not to Read