The French-born musician follows up her debut album ‘Utopia’ with her brand new EP; continuing her unique blend of electropop with dark, haunting lyrics

Born in the South of France, GEISTE’s mix of haunting vocals and electronic sound transport you to a world of futuristic fantasy. Releasing her first album Utopia last year, GEISTE (real name Marie Chabrelie) is now releasing her newest EP, Retrograde. 

Like Utopia, the music on Retrograde is haunting and hopeful. The music GEISTE creates on the EP is something of an oxymoron. The electronic sound transports the listener to the far future, conjuring images of cyber-punk mega cities shining with neon. In contrast, GEISTE’s almost mystical vocals transport you back to ancient civilisations, lost to time. Throughout the whole EP, there seems to be a consistent theme of loss and regret. Yet, despite this, there is also a somewhat hopeful melancholy to the music.   

Retrograde, to me, seems to focus on the aftermath of a relationship and the feelings that come with being in that space. It’s a great EP to sit back and listen to, with each song evoking strong feelings that stir the listener. It’s clear that the music is incredibly personal to GEISTE, as she expresses her thoughts, feelings, and her story, through the music.   

Alibi creates this feeling of recollection and longing for a past love, which makes sense considering GEISTE’s influence behind the song. GEISTE explains on her Facebook page that she “wrote Alibi when I was back home in the south of France during the summer. It was the first time in my life I started feeling sad to leave my hometown, so this song is a homage to the place where I come from, opposed to the city where I find myself in.” 

Alibi perfectly captures that sense of nostalgia through its haunting lyrics and melancholic sound, expertly generating that relatable feeling of wishing to return to a happier past, to go back to who we were in days gone by. A feeling not confined to homesickness and just as relatable to the longing for a relationship that has ended, a longing for happier times.  

Twig, like Alibi, has that melancholic sound. Listening to Twig, I can’t help but picture lost and lonely souls wandering the streets at night, hoping to find something. 

“I used to party at night / Until I couldn’t feel a thing anymore / Taking all the trips strangers put on my tongue / Turn into a Twig.” 

Twig conveys that feeling of trying to fill the empty space that is often left behind when a relationship ends and gives a sense of those self-destructive traits one can take on when in an unhealthy headspace. 

I Just Feel Really Empty All the Time is probably my least favourite song on the EP — that’s if I had to choose one. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad song; it’s still good and certainly continues in a similar style and tone to the others. When compared to the rest of the songs on the EP, it isn’t as memorable as the others, and it doesn’t stay with me after listening as the rest do.  

The feelings conjured by I Just Feel Really Empty All the Time are ones that I’m sure everyone can relate to. I think everyone has had times where they feel empty, lost, and unsure of how to move forward. The track expertly presents those feelings and ideas in musical form.   

Tide is the second to last song on the EP and, for me, it conjures similar feelings to Alibi. It generates that idea of wanting someone or something to come back. Wanting to go back to where we were before. 

“Come back cause I’ve been tied up / Those pieces of us / Hurted my eyes / Is this what happens to lovers.” 

Tide has a very melancholic sound to it, generating images of lonely souls dancing alone in the night. For me, there is a very regretful air to Tide; it creates a sense of longing; longing for things to get better.  

Retrograde — the final track — is similar in tone and style to the others. Whilst it creates a sense of melancholy and has a rather downbeat style to it, Retrograde is still an enjoyable listen, with a good beat for the club scene.

There seems to be a stylistic through-line with the EP juxtaposing styles; electronic, alternative pop music mixed with more dark indie vocals. It’s an enjoyable listen. I highly recommend you check out GEISTE’s newest EP to form your own opinions and interpretation.