Le Grand Couturier

Le Grand Couturier is a trio formed by Rachel Langlais (keyboards, vocals), Jean-François Riffaud (composition, steel guitar, vocals) and Clément Vercelletto (drums, synths). Mainly inspired by Hawaiian and Polynesian music from the mid-20th century, the group revisits these musical forms by confronting them with contemporary synthetic and electric textures.

The music of Le Grand Couturier evokes the gap between the carefree spirit often associated with these styles in the “American dream”—as illustrated by their reappropriation within the Exotica movement—and the violence of today’s world, through the deconstruction of this aesthetic and the use of sound treatments borrowed from noise music.

The members of the trio have been active for several years on the French experimental and independent scene. Rachel Langlais leads several musical projects (La Colonie de Vacances, Pyjamarama) and released a solo album of prepared piano, Dothe, on the UJNSQ label. Jean-François Riffaud explores everything from African electric music and American minimalism to 1980s power pop (Electric Vocuhila, Parquet, ABACAXI, The World). Clément Vercelletto (Kaumwald, Sarah Terral, Orgue Agnès) released L’Engoulevent, his first solo album under his name, in January 2025 on UJNSQ and develops transdisciplinary work between music and performance across numerous venues and international festivals.

The first album by Le Grand Couturier was recorded in analog at Capitola Analog studio, capturing the tracks with a live-like dynamic and favoring improvisation and creative accidents. This approach echoes the sonic experiments of artists such as Martin Denny, Joe Meek and Les Baxter, while asserting a raw and contemporary sound identity.

The cover art, an original painting by Marion Jdanoff (Collectif Palefroi), reinforces the spirit of this first album, which consists of eight tracks (five instrumentals and three with vocals). The atmosphere is textured and colorful, teeming with details and shifting from one mood to another, from the mischievous, cartoon-like spirit of Fanta cinq to the eerie, vaporous Maneki Neko, the noisy and openly experimental Adventures in Paradise or the hypnotic, danceable Hula Kong.

With this debut album, Le Grand Couturier explores an unexpected sonic landscape, poised between imaginary exotica and contemporary experimentation.