Exosoul by Elodie Gervaise

December can be unkind to the ‘New Releases’ section of any music publication. It’s then only fitting that in 2024, a year which has defied convention (in music and reality), the quality of the final month of the year is as high as any other. For proof of this, look no further than Elodie Gervaise, the French-Australian vocalist and producer who just released Exosoul, her debut album. It’s the Feature Album this week on 2SER. And it’s great.

Though it may be Gervaise’s first full-length LP, Exosoul is the product of an extensive period of artistic and emotional discovery since she began her music career in 2016. During that time, Gervaise has served as the frontwoman of two bands (The Galaxy Girls and Candy Lucid); moved from Australia to France to Germany; switched career paths (from architecture to music); and endured a raft of emotional and spiritual transformations. All of this change is manifest in the lyrics on Exosoul, both sung and spoken, with a depth in musical influence to accompany.

From the outset of opener ‘I See You I Understand’, its clear that Gervaise (or, more appropriately, her alter-ego Anaïnja) is the author and architect of her own sonic world. She sings with specificity and conviction, ruminating on the dynamics of trust in a modern relationship. It’s mature yet playful: Gervaise’s musings on love, sexuality, and self-realisation are, at times, backed by what can be compared to a spliced-tape remix of a Nintendo 64 (see: ‘King of Cups’). The sonic inspirations behind Exosoul are thus unsurprisingly expansive, with Gervaise’s collaboration with LA-based producer Mucky Beats eliciting comparisons to legendary electronic acts in Aphex Twin and Portishead to newer experimenters in Vegyn and Sega Bodega.

Exosoul is out now via B3SCI RECORDS

Words by Josh Ray