by Ben Hogwood, incorporating text from the press release

Relentlessly exploring deeply moving sonic territories, Gaspar Claus — cellist, composer, and producer — has followed a highly stimulating path since the early 2010s.

From one creation to the next, he has forged a singular, primarily instrumental language at the crossroads of multiple worlds and artistic encounters: his father, flamenco guitarist Pedro Soler; international indie rock figures such as Bryce Dessner (The National), Casper Clausen (Efterklang), and Sufjan Stevens; Japanese noise icon Keiji Haino; or closer to him, French electronic producer Rone; or songwriter Malik Djoudi, to name but a few.

The album bears a very short title, leaving — like its musical content — maximum space for the listener’s imagination. The term evokes a fundamental biological unit, a place of meditation or confinement, a computing unit, a component of a social organism, as well as the three letters that form the name of his instrument of choice: the cello.

“I like the idea that each track is a musical cell, both autonomous and connected to the others. However, the album is not based on any particular concept. Music, especially instrumental music, doesn’t necessarily need a narrative or discourse imposed on it.”

Gaspar’s music takes the form of contemporary chamber music, deeply marked by the American minimalist wave and threaded with subtle echoes of traditional music from the Mediterranean basin, as well as the laboratory-like experimentation of modern electronic music. Fully unfolding in the silent folds of the night, it exudes a rare emotional density driven by intellectual rigor, without ever slipping into ostentation.

“I had my dream studio built in Banyuls-sur-Mer, where I live part of the year, because I couldn’t manage to work in Paris,” the musician explains. “I spent about a year and a half there working on Cells. The creative process was complicated. The album resisted a lot before taking shape. I went through doubts and questioning, even moments where I considered giving up.”

Clear and direct, with no audible trace of that difficult gestation, the final result — seemingly flowing effortlessly — appears all the more striking. To overcome this long period of inner turbulence, Gaspar Claus relied on a steadfast credo: “It’s simply precious to make music.”

Published post no.3,011 – Tuesday 8 September 2026

by Ben Hogwood, incorporating text from the press release

Gaspar Claus has announced a new album, CELLS, featuring collaborations with Matt Elliott (The Third Eye Foundations) and producer Basile3. It will be released by InFiné on 25 September, but has been prefaced by two singles. The second of these, Désir des astres, is available now:

On the track, Gaspar said, “This theme comes from music written for a documentary. It ultimately wasn’t used: the cello often carries that melancholic sweetness so unique to it, and it weighed the film down a bit. So I dug it up, reworked it, and pushed it towards an almost epic boldness. It’s an ideal way to kick off the journey this album offers.”

The title of the piece also plays with the etymology of the word “désir”, which shares the same root as the word “sidéral”, placing the track in a resonance that is both intimate and cosmic.

It is a passionate piece, played with searching expression by the cellist – whose accents bring a humid, almost Mediterranean flavour to the track. I was reminded, in a good way, of the music of Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo.

Désir des astres follows the single release of the album’s opening track, World of Idols, in edit form:

CELLS will be released on Biovinyl LP and Digipack CD (all-paper packaging), with all details on the Bandcamp link below:

Published post no.2,905 – Tuesday 2 June 2026