Voyage Mental

On her fifth album Voyage Mental, the French Pop artist 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. As a worthy heiress to Françoise Hardy, Margo Guyan or Vashti Bunyan, Laure Briard has created intimate albums between realism and poetry. Today, her music is embellished by touches of bossa nova and a folk sensibility, boasting increasingly intricate arrangements. Nostalgic but always tethered to the present moment, Voyage Mental is the fruit of Briard's collaboration with French artist, Gaëtan Nonchalant—the two of them co-wrote and recorded five tracks at Studio Nocturne, accompanied by Briard's long-time sidekick Pieuvre, aka Vincent Guyot, Léo Blomov, Pierre-Louis Vizioz, and Hedi Bensalem. A highlight from the album is “Golden Sun” composed by and featuring the 1960s cult American musician F.J. McMahon, who Laure contacted via the internet on a whim—an unlikely encounter between two generations and two cultures, giving new life to an old forgotten demo on the other side of the Atlantic. Moving from gentle pop and drifting ballads to sunlit folk, Voyage Mental balances escapism and confinement. Cinematic imagery of open landscapes contrasts with urban claustrophobia, while themes of longing, nostalgia, and disconnection unfold through melancholic guitar, sparse piano, and quietly uplifting, transportive arrangements.