If you are friends with me, you probably know I have a huge bias for music that sounds aquatic. The rating I’ve given Écailles de lune (2010), and the fact that it’s my favorite Alcest album should come as no surprise. The orchestral guitar sound washes over you like tidal waves and crushes you below the ocean depths. Neige’s echoed vocals paint a portrait of the clearest, most pristine water and the moonlight that shines over it just barely lighting the dark sea below.

This is an absolutely breathtaking, beautiful and atmospheric album. Actually, forget my personal opinion: Écailles de lune is absolutely Alcest’s best album. It’s definitely better than the great Souvenirs d’un autre monde. Écailles de lune has a tighter focus and clearer ambition as to the setting the music is trying to create, and it succeeds incredibly. This is pure magic. Nothing in my collection makes me feel like it does. I often listen to this album when I’m angry or upset, and it washes over and cleanses my soul.