Description
Release Date Friday 21st November 2025
All pre-orders will be dispatched/made ready for collection on that day.
Hamburg-based multi-instrumentalist and producer The Offline continues
with the advancement of his hip-hop-leaning, library-tinged cinematic worldbuilding, with his second full-length album, 'La grande evasion'
The album reflects an escape into the unknown, grounded in memory, photography,
place, and inner travel. It traces a voyage that taps into freedom and the search for
identity - one that The Offline characterises as "one of the oldest and most powerful
motifs in human storytelling, which can be found in myths, literature, film and music."
Lead single 'Boulevard National' takes the setting of the musical story back to the
streets of Marseilles - the city that The Offline's 2024 'Les Cigales' EP was written in
tribute to. Inspired by textures of Anatolian psych and West Coast surf, the song
channels the pulse of a city alive with multiculturalism, contrast, and character.
Following on from this, 'Nikonos V' references the love for analogue photography from
which 'The Offline' as an idea and musical project stemmed. Breezy and groove-laced,
with a warmth reminiscent of Khruangbin, Offthewally and Tommy Guerrero, the track
is named after the film camera that accompanies him on coastal explorations. He
shares: "The special thing about this camera is that it was built for underwater use, so
it's always with me when I go to the sea. Incidentally, the photos for the cover of the
new album were taken with this camera."
Things turn stranger and more surreal turn on 'Le trip' - a woozy, breakbeat-flecked
journey featuring a soaring saxophone improvisation from serial collaborator Kimo
Eiserbeck. Sitting somewhere between boom- bap, vintage Japanese jazz- funk and
BADBADNOTGOOD, it imagines a psychedelic detour through sound - "Ever licked a
toad in the jungle?" asks The Offline. "Me neither, but this is what I think it would feel
like." If time is needed to process that statement, then The Offline also has your back.
Creating an uplifting space for reflection, 'La belle en lumiere' acts as the emotional
centrepiece of the record - a romantic ballad that builds from soft Rhodes chords and
a steady groove into The Offline's trademark, sweeping horn-led drama.
Tracks: La grande evasion (Theme principal) / Aurore / Les aventuriers / Boulevard
National / Dans les grands espaces / La belle en lumiere / De Paris a l'Amazonie /
L'excursion / Les oiseaux de mer / La vie a bord / Les Iles / Le trip (feat. Kimo
Eiserbeck) / La vie de nuit / Les miracles de l'ocean / Theme de l'adieu / Nikonos V
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