There is a particular kind of confidence that exists only after midnight; appearing briefly beneath artificial light, reflected in windows, mirrors and the attention of strangers. And on his new single ‘Pretty in the Dark’, Italian producer Alessandro Marchetti, working as Les Flâneurs, captures that fragile state with considerable sensitivity.
The single moves through synth-pop and trip-hop territory, combining softly glowing electronics with a restrained rhythmic pulse. Its atmosphere is polished but never overly bright, allowing uncertainty to remain visible beneath the song’s more inviting surface.
At the centre of the track is the desire to feel attractive, composed and recognisable to oneself while everything else appears unstable. It’s here that beauty becomes a form of self-preservation: a small attempt to retain identity while the surrounding world grows indistinct or judgemental.
And that tension gives ‘Pretty in the Dark’ more substance than its immediate melodic appeal might initially suggest. The synthesiser work creates a sense of movement and nocturnal possibility, while the trip-hop influence introduces a slower, more inward-looking weight. The production never forces these qualities into opposition, as both confidence and doubt move alongside one another, each making the other more convincing.
‘Pretty in the Dark’ also serves as a useful introduction to ‘Afterglow’, the forthcoming second Les Flâneurs album. Six years have passed since ‘A Long Season’, and Marchetti has used that interval for experimentation and collaboration rat every opportunity. This new material has been shaped partly through work with younger artists from his local community, bringing different perspectives into a project still guided by his detailed production sensibility.
There are echoes of Chromatics’ nocturnal cool, The xx’s emotional space and the cinematic breadth associated with M83, but ‘Pretty in the Dark’ avoids becoming a collage of obvious reference points. Its identity lies in the balance between elegance and instability, and in the understated resistance of refusing to disappear beneath difficult feelings.
In all, Les Flâneurs has created a song that understands beauty can be provisional and still matter. Sometimes a little reflected light is enough to remind us that we remain present, even when the world around us has begun to blur.