Bastien Pons’ “Blinded” is here to rewire your nervous system. Overlook typical rock records—this near-eight-minute leviathan, the title track from the French artist’s debut album, isn’t a song with a hook; it’s a slow-burning, precisely designed universe of sound, heavy not just in decibels but in natural, textural gravity. This is for those who want their music to weigh something.
Pons isn’t just some kid with a guitar; he’s an alchemist. With a background in the stark contrasts of black-and-white photography and formal training in musique concrète under the mentorship of Bernard Fort, his process is closer to sculpture than songwriting. “Blinded” is built, not written. It’s a collage of field recordings, ambient layers, and industrial grit, all laced together with minimal, haunting melodic fragments that feel less like riffs and more like ghosts in the machine. The final product is hugely, memorably absorbing—a headphone odyssey that goes beyond soliciting your concentration; it demands it.
The sheer fucking genius of “Blinded” is in its mastery of tension and its glacial, fearless patience. It moves at its own deliberate, tectonic pace, unfolding like some lost, dark cinematic narrative. Industrial textures grate against the eardrums with a natural, physical edge, while ambient layers open up cavernous, shadowy spaces to fall into. It’s this relentless push-and-pull—between searing noise and profound silence, suffocating density and terrifying emptiness—that gives the track its crushing emotional weight and a distinctly progressive rock ambition.
The track is a deep, unnerving meditation on perception itself. Inspired by his photographic work, Pons claws at the idea of blindness—both literal and the kind we choose. It’s about what we see, what we ignore, and the fragile, unseen emotions vibrating just beneath the surface of everything. This is music you don’t just hear; you feel it in your bones—like the grain on a photograph, or a shift in the dark.
“Blinded” is a challenging listen? You’re goddamn right it is—that’s the point. Bastien Pons is building his own board in a different dimension for anyone bone-tired of sanitised formulas and hungry for something with real substance, depth, and a serious, atmosphere-soaked punch…