The new album from French trio SLIFT is out now. It’s called Fantasia, you can link to the title track below. There are tour dates too. We like it.
SLIFT say of the song: “Fantasia is a song that expresses the power to rise above pain through love and a deep connection with the world around us.”
Read some words, give it a listen, book your tickets.
Every previous album by the radiant and heavy French trio SLIFT has been a fantasia: a composite of genres and forms that allowed the band to improvise and jam on themes until they spiralled together into space. Their acclaimed third album, 2024’s Ilion, was built from 10- to 13-minute exploratory escapades, often starting with doom metal or stoner rock before spinning freely into glorious instrumental oblivion. But, in a bit of intentional irony, SLIFT’s fourth album is actually called Fantasia — and it’s their leanest and most direct record to date. Across eight songs and less than 50 minutes, the band distil the complexity and intensity of their past into lean, agile and punchy anthems, not wasting a single second in the process.
Fantasia reckons directly with the modern onslaught of cruelty and absurdity, but its pointed saga of international upheaval is ultimately driven by hope: by trusting in some hidden power for fighting back, for believing in a world where something we cannot yet articulate or define offers not just a way to disrupt the status quo but perhaps to destroy it completely. Loud, heavy and aggressive, these songs weave together layers of complexity like a tapestry that reveals something new each time you look, capturing a band bearing down with newfound focus and urgency.
SLIFT tour dates:
EU, Spring and Summer 2026
5 June – Tampere, Finland – Ankea Festival
18 June – Vannes, France – Festival Echopark
19 June – Clisson, France – Hellfest
27 June – Lärz, Germany – Fusion Festival
29 June – Paris, France – L’Olympia
3 July – Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France – Festival Beauregard
8 August – Josefov, Czech Republic – Brutal Assault Festival
15 August – Carhaix, France – Motocultor Festival
US, Fall 2026
6 October – Boston, MA – The Sinclair
7 October – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge (LPR)
8 October – Washington, DC – The Atlantis
9 October – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
10 October – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
11 October – Detroit, MI – El Club
13 October – Chicago, IL – Outset
14 October – Saint Paul, MN – Turf Club
16 October – Denver, CO – Bluebird
20 October – Seattle, WA – Neumos
21 October – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
23 October – San Francisco, CA – August Hall
24 October – Los Angeles, CA – Pacific Electric
EU/UK, Fall 2026
17 November – Ramonville-Saint-Agne, France – Le Bikini
18 November – La Rochelle, France – La Sirene
19 November – Nantes, France – Stereolux
20 November – Rennes, France – Antipode
23 November – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
24 November – Groningen, Netherlands – Vera
25 November – Hamburg, Germany – Knust
26 November – Berlin, Germany – Lido
27 November – Prague, Czech Republic – Subzero
28 November – Frankfurt, Germany – Zoom
30 November – Zurich, Switzerland – Plaza
1 December – Milan, Italy – Circolo Arci Bellezza
2 December – Villeurbanne, France – Le Transbordeur
3 December – Strasbourg, France – La Laiterie
4 December – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
5 December – Lille, France – L’Aéronef
8 December – Dublin, Ireland – Academy Dublin
10 December – Manchester, UK – Gorilla
11 December – Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
12 December – Bristol, UK – Thekla
13 December – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall
EU, February 2027
3 February – Porto, Portugal – M.Ou.Co
4 February – Lisbon, Portugal – República da Música
5 February – Madrid, Spain – Copérnico
6 February – Madrid, Spain – Sala Wolf
DeClunk 