KABBEL Shares 'Fiction Clouds' From Debut LP WHEN THE WAR IS OVER

KABBEL today shared the anthemic 'Fiction Clouds,' the latest single previewing his debut LP, When The War Is Over, due out October 30th via Perturbator's record label Music of the Void. Debuting via FLOOD Magazine, the French artist Gregory Hoepffner lets his pop sensibility lead the way with the dancefloor surge on this synth-pop banger mixed by Lars Stalfors (The Dare, Paramore, HEALTH, TR/ST) and out now alongside a video directed by Corentin Schieb.

'Fiction Clouds' serves to deepen and expand KABBEL's signature 'queer sadcore' genre explored across the bold debut LP. Hoepffner explains: 'This song is about minority stress, which in my case concerns the LGBTQ+ community. It's about the anxiety felt around potential or lived discrimination, rejection, or bullying. The stress becomes so internalized that it turns into constant paranoia. Sonically, the song lets this tension drive until the end, with a nocturnal '80s synth pop production on steroids. I wanted it to feel like a dangerous dance.'

Of the surreal video, Hoepffner explains: 'The video for 'Fiction Clouds' expands the paranoia induced by LGBTQ+ minority stress into a short-film sequence. A younger KABBEL-doppelganger is caught in a liminal loop prison, exchanging his life with his older-self, while his own band members seem to hold him hostage of the situation. Directed by cinematographer Corentin Schieb (Alcest, The Ocean, Sierra Veins…), this mental purgatory dives into the liminal blue aesthetic, where dream and reality seamlessly blend like a David Lynch fever dream.'

'Fiction Clouds' follows the recent visceral single 'Elephant,' and lead track 'Reward,' which features Perturbator and premiered via New Noise Magazine. When The War Is Over is available for pre-order.

Hoepffner assumes many musical identities, but KABBEL–who performs live with a band, and has shared the stage with heavyweights like HEALTH and Alcest–is surely the most unusual. Above all else, KABBEL is a character: a freeing creative outlet that allows Hoepffner to play with sonic elements that he wouldn't dare touch in other circumstances. It's a shield that keeps certain apprehensions–'Am I allowed to sing about this?'–at bay. 'Trying to recapture the immense excitement of writing my first songs when I was 15 or 16 is often the starting point, and then adding in the production experience I've gathered over the past 20 years.'

When The War Is Over–performed, composed, and produced by Hoepffner himself–is a sonic redirection for KABBEL, taming the experimental side of his 2021 EP End Of Norms and embracing the pop demons that keep haunting him. When The War Is Over ends with its powerful title track–a song that reflects the core of the record. 'The title is something I would like to hear regarding the state of the world right now, even though KABBEL's universe is mostly focused on inner conflicts,' Hoepffner says. 'Being in a constant state of war takes all your energy, and reduces your life to this battle. There are many things we feel the need to battle these days: climate change, the comeback of fascism, tech-billionaires stealing our work and using precious resources to re-brand it...there's a positively cathartic side to this album and my only goal is that it gives you the confidence to not give up, and hope for a better future.'

KABBEL Live Dates

11/07 – Die Trompete – Bochum, DE ^

11/09 – Mikropol – Berlin, DE ^

11/11 – Backstage – Paris, FR ^

11/12 – Ferrailleur – Nantes, FR ^

11/14 – Noumatrouff – Mulhouse, FR ^

11/15 – Black Lab – Lille, FR ^

^ all dates supporting Cage Fight

Photo Credit: Muriel Delepont

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