Les Discrets

Les Discrets
Les Discrets at Roadburn Festival, 2017.
Background information
Origin	France
Genres	Post-rock, post-metal, shoegazing, blackgaze, indie rock, trip hop
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Prophecy Productions
Members	Fursy Teyssier Audrey Hadorn
Past members	Winterhalter
Website	Les Discrets / Fursy Teyssier official website

Les Discrets is a French post-rock project created and led by Fursy Teyssier as a "platform gathering music and art."^[1] Teyssier was the sole member of the band until 2009, when he was joined by Audrey Hadorn and Winterhalter. Les Discrets released Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées in March 2010, Ariettes oubliées... in February 2012. Winterhalter left the band in 2013 to focus on his duties for Alcest. The band's third album Prédateurs, was released in April 2017, which saw a transition towards an indie rock and trip hop-oriented sound.^[2]

The band considers its name to mean "Those who keep silent", although "The Discreet Ones" would be more an accurate translation.^[3]

History

Les Discrets was formed in 2003 as a musical side-project alongside Fursy's other band Phest. Fursy, who is also an illustrator and film director, wanted to express concepts in music similar to those found within his art.^[2] Fellow French musicians, Winterhalter and Audrey Hadorn, soon joined the line-up. Les Discrets signed a five-album contract with German record label Prophecy Productions in April, 2009.^[4] The band released a split EP with Alcest in December of the same year, and went on to release their first full-length album, Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées, in March, 2010.^[2] According to the German Sonic Seducer magazine, the album features dark, romantic music that cannot be attributed to any single genre.^[5] On July 18, 2010, Fursy posted an update on the band's website stating that composition for the second album had been completed, and that the studio had already been booked for its recording.

Both Fursy and Winterhalter were members of the now-disbanded Amesoeurs. Fursy was a live member of Alcest until June 2010, while Winterhalter is the band's full-time drummer.

In 2013, Fursy announced that, by mutual decision, both Winterhalter and live bassist Neige were leaving Les Discrets to focus more on their main band, Alcest.^[2]

The band's third studio album, Prédateurs, was released on Bandcamp on April 21, 2017.^[6]

In an Instagram post at September 12, 2022, Fursy said that the absence of new material was due to his full-time work as a film animator. He said that he was open to doing another album "...when inspiration fully comes back." However, he also said that Les Discrets would most likely not perform live again because he does not enjoy reproducing the music in a live setting. ^[7]

Band members

Fursy Teyssier at Roadburn Festival 2017

Current

• Fursy Teyssier – lead vocals, guitars, bass (2003–present), keyboards (2011-present)
• Audrey Hadorn – vocals (2009–present), keyboards (2016–present)

Former

• Winterhalter – drums (2009–2013)

Former live

• Neige – bass (2011–2013)
• Zero – guitars, backing vocals (2011–2013)
• Jean Joly – drums (2016–2017)
• Miguel – guitar (2016–2017)
• Brice – bass (2016–2017)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

• Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées (March 2010)
• Ariettes oubliées... (February 2012)
• Prédateurs (April 2017)

Live albums

• Live at Roadburn (June 2015)

Split releases

• Les Discrets / Alcest with Alcest (November 2009)
• Les Discrets / Arctic Plateau with Arctic Plateau (September 2011)^[8]

Extended plays

• Les Discrets (2006)^[9]

• Viree Nocturne (August 2016)
• Rue Octavio Mey / Fleur Des Murailles (April 2017)

Compilation appearances

• Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings (October 2010)

References

1. "Fursy Teyssier & les Discrets - animated film director & Music". Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
2. "Les Discrets | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
3. "Les Discrets". Les-discrets.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
4. Les Discrets signing announcement Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, Prophecyproductions.de. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
5. Lüthy, Juliane. "Les Discrets". Sonic Seducer (in German). Vol. 17, no. 4–2010.
6. "Prédateurs, by Les Discrets". Les-discrets.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
7. "Fursy & les Discrets on Instagram: "Dear friends, It's been almost 3 years that I haven't post anything on social medias. I have received so many messages wondering what happened haha, thanks, it's very nice. Well... Very simple: I disconnected from social medias and focused on film making (Animated films) which is my job. I am having the best experiences in doing movies and current projects as a feature film director that need 300% focus. Audrey and I also moved to the countryside so we enjoy life in the woods and in the garden growing tomatoes and planting fruit trees. I swear, it's much better for mental health than any facebook post :-D Music wise I have to say there is not much going on, all my creativity goes into film making and I am immensely happy with that, but I know I will soon make music again. I want to keep making albums according to my inspiration only and will do another one only if and when inspiration fully comes back. I didn't touch my guitar in 4 years, at all. But since a few weeks I start again playing, which is maybe a good sign for les Discrets. Who knows :) I also want to say that there is almost no chance that we play live with les Discrets anymore. I love to create music but hate to reproduce it over and over. Live ain't for me I'm afraid. Whatever happens in the future, I doubt I will be managing the social medias anymore, so I will ask the team at Prophecy Production to do it, hopefully they will accept. :) They are a bunch of lovely people who'll take care of this page and keep the catalog of vinyls, CDS, and merch available! I won't read any messages, not post anything else. Wishing you all the best, thank you so much, all of you for the support, kind words all over the years. Fursy PS: I'll keep playing bass with Empyrium, those who are coming: See you at Prophecy Fest in a couple weeks!"".
8. "Les Discrets | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
9. "Les Discrets - Les Discrets User Opinions". Sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.

External links

• Official website