12/9/25 ADDS
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UPCOMING
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ABOUT
CLÉA VINCENT
Speakeasy(Midnight Special Records)
Add date: 1.27.2026
Release date: 1.23.2026
For the past fifteen years, Cléa Vincent has been gracing the stage with her childlike enthusiasm and passion for pop music in all its forms, from her early days performing in Parisian bars to last year's Bataclan headliner show celebrating the release of her third album, Advitam Æternamour. One could say that she needs no introduction, as her name is inseparable from the most exciting developments in the contemporary French independent music scene. From the outset, she has shown a knack for composing candid, sun-drenched songs that not only inspire introspection but also create space for dialogue. She is a nonstop collaborator, driven by the desire to share and transcend genres, teaming up with artists such as Kim Giani, Jeanne Balibar, Alison Wheeler, Jacques, NUSKY & VAATI, João Selva, Les Clopes, and others. Alongside her activity as a composer, Cléa is dedicated to promoting other artists in her community, notably through her show “Sooo Pop” (broadcast on YouTube from 2018 to 2019), where she has featured guests such as Christophe, Moodoïd, Mathilde Fernandez, Katerine, and the Pirouettes. Like many other musicians of her generation, she cites 1980s French pop music as a key influence, but rather than simply following in Jacno's footsteps, Cléa draws from a multitude of elements that define her era, fully anchored in the present. She travels extensively, and it was her discovery of South America, bossa nova, and samba through touring that inspired her Tropi-Cléa series of EPs.
If there is one thing that Cléa Vincent has championed throughout her career, it is her sense of freedom, whether in her choice of unorthodox performance venues or her own artistic twists and turns that go against expectations. She follows her curiosity wherever it leads her, even if it means abandoning commercial sense to remain entirely true to her instincts. Each new album marks a stage in her life, and Speakeasy inevitably offers a window onto a kind of pause. “Advitam Æternamour left me rather speechless, and after that I wanted a very minimalist album, a moment of respite, a roomful of silence.” Six piano pieces without lyrics—the logical culmination for a pop singer? Not exactly, which comes as no surprise for a conservatory-trained pianist who studied classical repertoire and then explored jazz improvisation. She has always known how to make her keyboard sing, letting it speak its own abstract language, and that is the beauty of this new opus: finding fragments of Cléa, her melancholy and her color, without the presence of her singing voice. Feeling slightly jaded by the limitations of pop song lyrics, she returns to the instrument she had put aside during her touring years, to her first traveling companion and close confidante, with whom she is reacquainted in complete intimacy. The result is a stunning soundscape that transports us several meters above the constant hubbub that defines our everyday lives. The melodies flow smoothly, accompanied only by a minimalist drum machine and bass. Composed and performed while new life was growing in Cléa's womb, the songs carry within them the beautiful tranquility of a heart awaiting the arrival of a loved one, beating with ceaseless wonder. With Speakeasy, the musician catches her breath, enjoying a few moments of grace that will serve as an ethereal interlude between all the hits in her repertoire when it's time to get back on the road.
Photos by Marc Shelly