Despite being one of the first entities to dabble in the juxtaposition of beauty and brutality that came to be known as blackgaze, Alcest have always been best understood as a singular, solitary force. Neige, very much the main man here in that he plays everything except the drums, originally conceived the band as a way to reflect childhood visions of an uncanny, euphoric nature. And while his last couple of records foregrounded a certain foreboding, influenced by dark events in the real world, Les Chants De L’Aurore finds the clouds clearing to let the brightness shine through once more. The result is a collection of vibrantly melodic pieces with an emphasis on the uplifting. Feelings of hopefulness and optimism are threaded through Komorebi and L’Envol; while the...