It was always a great challenge: how can I make a dreampop album that's still very Alcest, but not a ripoff - how to keep the core.

You just have to be adventurous and that's the way I like to work. I think that's the role of the artist, to do something difficult, doing it first for himself. That's my definition of sincerity.

Sometimes when you record an album in the end, there are things here and there you regret production wise or in composition.

There are so many bands always doing the same album over and over; I want to evolve, try new things.

What excites me is to know I don't have any limits, that it's quite an open project, more open than I thought it could be. To have this freedom to try very different things. I listen to lots of music from every genre.

Every time I make a record, it's a gem with different facets, and every time I like to explore a different side. The core is the same, it never changes, but I try to create a different shape.

It's always good to go from a heavy song to a softer one. It helps having the attention of the audience for the whole show - three hours of the same songs for the whole show is boring.