Mode7, the debut conceptual album from French songwriter Julien Daval’s project FloreJack, charts a narrative arc through both intimate acoustic storytelling and indie-pop hookiness. Melodic indie-folk arrangements, escalating song structures, and lush harmonies weave a deeply personal tale of resilience, imagination, and personal transformation.

An affecting folk-forward opener, depictive of the album’s dreamier acoustic directions, “Blindly” delights in its mixture of calming acoustic guitar, lush piano, and ascending vocal harmonies. Lyrically, it captures the alluring haze of staying in a situation you know is toxic. “There’s nothing like the way that you lie, nothing like the way that I kinda trust you blindly,” the lyrics intone, capturing a surrender to blissful deceit. The ensuing “Merry” resembles an aftermath to the realization of toxicity, with a drive to “return to the start of it all” building into multi-layered vocal harmonies, resolving into a peppy title-bearing refrain reminiscent of The Shins, particularly in the exulting “oh darling, I’m not the same. But I love you, love you.”

Another standout track, “Jonny” combines catchy guitar twangs alongside caressing piano, with rhythms gradually building alongside. An outsider, individualistic perspective is embraced, evident as a soaring melody proclaims that “feel like I’m alone in a choir” while “the cool kids walk away from me.” The vocal beckoning that follows—”Oh Jonny, won’t you take me home into the night?”—is especially magnetic and replay-inducing. “New Breath” stirs as well, contemplating a relationship deteriorating on distance and passing time, as one finds their own path between coasts. Full of emotional heart and melodically vibrant explorations of folk and pop, Mode7 is a stirring full-length release from FloreJack.

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“Blindly” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.

We discovered this release via MusoSoup.

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