Album Review: Slift - Fantasia
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
I remember watching French trio Slift on the Sunday night at Desertfest London 2025, and although my aching body and limbs were tired and weary, they totally blew my mind with their performance. I walked out of there in a bit of a daze at what I’d just watched, as they were both enthralling and captivating, so I was excited about getting to review their latest album “Fantasia” and it hasn’t let me down.
They return with their fourth album and have 8 songs that are about “overcoming international upheaval” as they write about the troubled world we live in and of a more hopeful vision. With brothers Jean and Remi Fossat, they have their third “brother” Canek Flores on drums and open with the album title track. It’s a nine-minute genre defying song, weaving complex soundscapes into intense patterns that layer across each other as Jean screams out in pain and anguish, whilst playing some cool synthesisers.
They have an exceptional sound, tripped out psychedelic stoner rock, with bass lines from Remi that cut right through and “Corrupted Sky” has that spaced out feel to it. They have leaned upon the influence of Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges throughout the album, who used fictional elements of magic and surreality that felt real. The guitar solo here is quite exceptional, and the composition is powerful and commanding, as it leads into “The Village” which ups the proggy nature of the album as it develops and builds up to a huge crescendo of noise.
The music is warm and fuzzy, as the trio captivate all around them, and this comes to life on “A Storm of Wings” with more superb bass work. One thing that impressed me live, was their interplay, and this is once again evident on this latest batch of songs, as Flores is metronomic on drums, and the vocals offer a commanding presence against the backdrop of heavy and aggressive music. “Orbus Tertius” is next, and flows wonderfully, as a plethora of adorable sounds whizz around your head, with several twists and turns. Each time I listen to this album, I discover something new in these punchy tunes, however, “Waiting Man” is a psychedelic ballad that would make Pink Floyd proud.
There’s an angrier vocal at the start of “The Day of Execution” that drags you into a faster and more aggressive rhythm in direct contrast to the previous track, but the solos are on fire, and the bass is bursting out of the speakers. It slows down in the middle section but then comes alive again taking you on one hell of a journey. They end with the slow, warming embrace of “Secret Mirror” with the overriding message being that we can fight back and trust in some hidden force but as usual, the trio cranks up the power several notches as they are here for a battle, and it’s a battle they are going to win.
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