HERMETIC DELIGHT

There are songs that stand tall and others made to fall. This band, between Strasbourg and Ankara, moves through these shifts with no set instructions.

From the very start, their sound has drifted somewhere between Sub Pop’s jagged edges and 4AD’s shimmering mirages. Early on, they were overflowing, caught between shoegaze and noise (Heartbeat, 2012; To The Grave To The Rave, 2013). Vow (2016) tightened the lines with a rawer live record. In 2020, F.A. Cult, produced by Charles Rowell (Crocodiles), marked a turning point: the pop sensibility stepped forward.

Today, you can hear their knack for holding a motif to obsession while everything else shifts around it. Zeynep Kaya’s voice wraps and carries, stretching or pulling tight as each song unfolds. Delphine Padilla’s drumming brings a motorik drive where every strike feels choreographed. Atef Aouadhi makes guitars and bass converse—sometimes sharp, sometimes clear—opening space and guiding each track. Synths flare or withdraw, unsettling or lighting up the melodies.

Vagabond Melodies extends that trajectory. More direct, more grounded, Hermetic Delight’s second album sharpens a language now entirely their own. The art of persistence.

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“Vagabond Melodies could well become the hot, radiant record of an era.”
À Découvrir Absolument (France) / Top 20 of the year

“More pop and more direct, this record is undoubtedly the most accessible, without any FM pitfalls.” "
Benzine (France) / Top 10 of the year

“This new album marks the culmination of the band's evolution.”
Thoughts Words Action (United Kingdom)

“A refined pop sound, which is so difficult to achieve.”
Westzeit (Germany)

“A fluid pop sensibility, between soft guitars and dancing synthesizers, throughout the album.”
Rumore (Italy)

“An attractive and accessible soundscape, both vintage and contemporary.”
Music in Belgium (Belgium)