22 For Silicon Alone stelt nieuwe single 'Flagrants Délices' voor

22 for Silicon Alone' is an audiovisual project led by Alexis Pfrimmer, singer/songwriter, producer & director, based in Brussels.

As he was looking for a name to encapsulate this project, he stumbled upon those four words '22 for Silicon Alone' on NASA's official website. They were music to his ears. Apparently related to the composition of a space suit, 22 mm of silicon is the thickness from which you would be fully protected from rays in outer space. He added up a very personal meaning to it : 'what happens when we stop protecting ourselves and we start sharing and connecting?'

Equally influenced by cinema and music, he committed himself to a set of rules, in the vein of Lars Von Trier & Thomas Vinterberg's Dogma 95 to elaborate the plot and conditions of his concept album. Such as replacing the conventional guitar/bass combo with a violin and baryton saxophone, avoid being confined within a genre, leaving space for improvisations and imperfections or even recording altogether.

With this project he had the desire to bring together everything that drives him, inspired by artistic gestures going from Mike Patton to David Bowie including The Mars Volta, David Byrne, Salvador Dali or even David Lynch, he never hesitates to dive into surrealism. For him, creating is all about offering to see the invisible whether it's a matter of emotions or sensations.

As the project grew, he met François Vinsot, former reporter who worked for BBC & AFP, who’s now writing fictions, together they co-wrote the lyrics for the whole album in only 10 days. On the way, he had the chance to collaborate with a lot of different talents such as the young violinist Joachim Baumerder (Social Silence, Carmen Sea, MAGMA, Ibrahim Maalouf), the saxophonist Marti Melia Marganon (Under the Reef Orchestra), the producer Niels Borrey (The Pink Syrups) to only name a few.

He recorded at Studio de Meudon, close to Paris (Johnny Hallyday, Avishai Cohen, etc...) with engineer Clément Gariel, and later on all the vocals at the Haekem Theatre in Brussels. The whole album was mixed by Angelica Roca (Lous and the Yakuza, Admiral Freebee) and mastered by Tom Baker (Nine Inch Nails).

'22 for Silicon Alone' released its debut single ‘01=2' on February 2020 as an introduction to the album, accompanied by a video, animated and directed by Alexis himself. Arousing from sound design elements the baryton saxophone leads the way of a martial rhythm, whereas the voice totally in Faith no More's footsteps, laments a strange blues 'Oh Mama, Oh Mama, can't always fall back on my feet'. Right after a sticky transition, the rhythm section blasts a heavy riff from which the violin extricates while Alexis is answering to himself in a gospel setting full of distress and remorse. As the music fades away, a piano springs from nowhere and takes you straight to the most unconfortable Twin Peaks' moment. The music video emphasizes this rollercoaster of emotions with shady characters, designed by Maurice Corbesier, caught in the middle of the sea as they are getting rid of some hazardous liquid. Altogether we are not far from 'Another world' by Gojira released however, a few months after.

On January, 22nd 2021, '22 for Silicon Alone' came back with a second extract, ‘Lapazule’ linked with a visualizer tinted in dark romance. The track starts with a disturbed violin almost unrecognizable followed with Pfrimmer's fallen angel voice. TOOL? One, two, three, four hits punch your heart while he continues his soliloquy 'Dissipate my Anger'. Each section brings you to another dreamy landscape, with such a palette of textures and ambiences. If one second we are with Soundgarden the next we are with Muse.

22 for Silicon Alone’s new single ‘Flagrants Délices’ is based on an ostinato where a wild violin, a frenzied piano and a psychedelic guitar intertwine on top of which Alexis liberates the power of his voice. Lyrically exploring in French the contrast between absurd poetry and crude reality, the title itself is a play on word with the French idiom: 'être pris en flagrant délit', which literally means to be caught in the act and the notion of delight. The song leaves us with a spacey taste of tango.

‘Flagrants Délices’ will come out on March 22nd 2021,

The album ‘Only Dark Matters’ will be out on streaming and in 12” vinyls on May 21st 2021.

Watch the video HERE.

Check out the single HERE.