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Exsonvaldes, formed in high school over 25 years ago, returns with their sixth album, Ninety Seconds to Midnight. After their cult debut Time We Spent Together (2004), a shift toward French, and the success of “L’aérotrain,” the band split in 2017 before reuniting in 2023 with Maps. Their new record marks a deliberate return to the raw, distorted energy of ’90s rock—echoing the Nirvana, Chokebore, and Weezer covers of their early rehearsals—while keeping the rich layers that define their sound.
The album channels urgency and grit through tracks like “Tate (Like the Museum),” “French Keyboard,” and “Paris Bruxelles,” while embracing synth-driven influences such as Grandaddy. Collaborations include Troy Von Balthazar on “Frontiers” and Spanish singer Helena Miquel on “En sentido contrario.” Released on the iconic ’90s label V2 Records, the project came together organically as the trio—Simon Beaudoux, Martin Chourrout, and Antoine Bernard—hit a new creative stride, writing and producing more fluidly than ever.
During the band’s hiatus, Simon and Martin honed their craft through international songwriting camps, experience that now sharpens Exsonvaldes’s melodic instincts. Though inspired by the ’90s, the album tackles modern anxieties—loneliness, self-doubt, and a world overshadowed by political and ecological fear. Named after the Doomsday Clock, Ninety Seconds to Midnight captures both the tension of the era and the renewed vitality of a band at its peak.
