Gabriel Kröger en concert à Rock en Seine
Who could be hiding behind that mysterious balaclava? Gabriel Kröger performs masked, perhaps to dare himself to go even further in his art, in his pitiless self-examination. It is the eternal paradox of artists who prefer to conceal themselves the better to bare all. After winning the Inrocks Super Club final earlier this year, the French artist released the self-produced EP Un an sans soleil, which he describes as the first instalment of his “sunless trilogy”. Folk, brooding melancholy, DIY punk spirit, raw language, spoken word and galvanising crescendos all tumble together in glorious disorder. Listening to these confessional tracks, you come to realise that Gabriel Kröger has no need to show his face to reveal who he is: one of the most remarkable new voices in French-language music today.