Taisen shares ‘The Fall Session’ EP

Based in Toulouse, French composer and multi-instrumentalist Taisen exists in the spaces between classical disciple and electronic experimentation, from where he crafts his highly original musical output. His sound feels as if each note has been unearthed from still air, coaxed gently into being to add to his immersive soundscapes that drift between light and shadow, creating music that speaks through movement, atmosphere and emotional texture.

The piano has always been the heart of his vision and his earliest encounters with music came through the classical world, informed by the structure and formality of conservatory studies. He began playing piano at the age of five, moving between rigorous training and private lessons but it was in his mid-teens that something shifted, the moment when discipline gave way to freedom. At sixteen, disillusioned with the rigidity of sheet music, he walked away from formal instruction and began to improvise and that decision, quiet but radical, would define the rest of his career.

From piano, his curiosity expanded towards guitar, flute and violin before finding new life in synths and electronic textures. Over time, his style developed into what might be described as neoclassical expressionism; delicate piano figures stitched with glowing synth lines, cinematic arrangements and an ever-present sense of emotional openness. His sound recalls artists like Nils Frahm, Hania Rani and Ólafur Arnalds but remains entirely his own, resulting in intimate and fluid moments of improvisation.

That same context animates The Fall Sessions, his latest EP, a three-track outing recorded and filmed live in his Toulouse studio over the course of a single autumn weekend. “Recording has always been a challenge for me. So I imagined The Fall Session as a response to that anxiety — bringing back the spontaneity and joy I feel when playing live,” he shares.

Opening track “Clouds” drifts into focus with the ease of an early morning breeze as the bubble of tones notes and soft flicker of piano notes forms an intriguing soundscape. Spacious and intricate, it captures Taisen’s knack for restraint, casting a subtly engrossing musical experience that flows with the delicate patter of rhythmic pulse and elegant melodic flourishes.

“A Cycle Ends” follows, its melancholy deepened by the resonant cello work of American musician Hannah Al-Kharouzy and together, the two artist create something fragile yet full, a quiet meditation on closure and renewal. The flutter of airy piano plinks and hushed bass notes gradually gathers pace as Hannah’s graceful cello lines stretch out in the arrangement to form a mesmeric and wholly absorbing musical fabric.

The EP closes with “Amalgam,” the most expansive piece of the three, presenting a cinematic finale that progresses like weather, sometimes calm, sometimes charged with motion. Taisen explains explains, “An amalgam is a mixture, an entanglement of elements. Between summer and winter, autumn is a season full of change. This track is an evocation of that movement: sometimes calm, sometimes stormy, sometimes dark, sometimes luminous.” Once again showcasing his flair for pairing organic instrumentation with electronic textures, the track slowly swells with enveloping layers peppered by bright piano notes to craft a truly spectacular slice of neoclassical music.

Listen to The Fall Session below