With its lush, layered sound and joyous party-rocking live show, L’Eclair is elbowing its way to the front of the neo-psych pack. For brothers Stefan and Yavor Lilov, the siblings at the center of the group, their musical journey took them from Bulgaria to Geneva, Switzerland. During Stefan’s art school days, the cosmic instrumental sound of early L’Eclair found its footing. Cloud Drifter is the culmination of four years of detail-oriented work, spanning multiple studios and incorporating dozens of talents, including vocalists for the first time. The brothers open up about how the new release represents a quantum leap, why L’Eclair’s live show is like live house music, and what playing in a band with family is really like.
At the Sonic Crossroads
“It’s wild in Switzerland. There are people from everywhere,” Stefan says of the country they’ve called home since 2001. “In Geneva, you go to school, and there is someone from Portugal, somebody from Lebanon, somebody from Spain.”
Growing up at this cultural crossroads, Stefan and his younger sibling, Yavor, devoured music of origins as diverse as the population. “Can has always been a big inspiration,” says Yavor. “Also, a lot of soul music—Marvin Gaye, Barry White.”
Over time, the group’s influence pool expanded further, reaching all the way to club sounds. “Recently, we’ve gotten more and more into electronic music, like early house,” he continues. “The blend between the classics and the stuff we appreciate now is where we are at the moment.”
Vocal Voyage
The expansive palette of Cloud Drifter is the most refined example yet of L’Eclair’s intersection of earthy instrumentation and celestial atmospherics. Smooth monophonic synth lines adorn album opener “Memphis” while “Vertigo” moves through a snakey 6/4 rhythm punctuated by aggressive percussion hits.
The album also differs inherently from the group’s discography in one significant way: singing. Cloud Drifter features vocal turns on over half the material, with singers emoting over colorful tracks that would have once remained instrumental. These range from Gelli Haha’s droll poetics on “Run” to the smooth verses of “Replica M001” by Pink Siifu. For L’Eclair, the new direction was an inevitable evolution.
"The blend between the classics and the stuff we appreciate now is where we are at the moment."
“When we started, there was not so much instrumental music,” Stefan recalls. “Now we reached this point where there is a lot, and it forced us to go the other way.”
The power of vocal hooks can also broaden a group’s appeal—a detail not lost on the Lilovs. Still, it has to be on their terms, the way they’ve run their whole career. “It was this feeling of not wanting to be pop but make music to reach the widest audience possible,” says Stefan of their gameplan, “and that was the last piece missing.”
There’s an art to blending music and lyrics, and the band looked to the past for guidance. “The music we have been listening to since the beginning was Pink Floyd, etc.,” he continues. “The lyrics hit when they should. It’s a gentle, clever mixture.”
Total Refreshment
Achieving that artful fusion required the right laboratory and supporting players. “L’Eclair has always been about collaboration, meeting other scenes because we never had a genre,” Stefan says. “We were lucky to be able to go to Total Refreshment Center, a really important creative hub in London.”
The feeling of real musicians vibing off each other in the moment is key to what the brothers create. “We don’t like solo projects, playing with computers,” Stefan says. “We like it when people are in the room.”
That spirit is even more evident onstage. A L’Eclair show is a world unto itself, where inhibitions fade and audiences work into a near-hypnotic fervor. Capturing the essence of their legendary gigs was key to creating the new album. “That’s why Cloud Drifter sounds bigger, has more dynamics,” the older Lilov continues. “We were looking for the sound we have live.”
"Cloud Drifter sounds bigger, has more dynamics. We were looking for the sound we have live.”
From the Lab to Live
A staggered pandemic touring schedule made for a four-year recording gestation period. While the bulk of the album was tracked during one twelve-month period, the brothers stress that much of the magic emerged from the last ten percent of detail work. This includes the gorgeous orchestral textures, sometimes evocative of underrated composer David Axelrod.
Although L’Eclair spent far longer supporting 2021’s Confusions than expected, there were some unexpected benefits to the lengthy window between releases. “We could test songs live early to see if a new track was catching the public,” says Stefan. “It was really useful as well to have that opportunity.”
Drawing on the live show’s club-like energy, dance textures are all over the new collection. “It loops like house music, but it’s never exactly the same loop because it’s played,” Yarov explains with a smile. “That’s the fun.”
Happy Hybrid
Achieving the propulsive sound of electronic drums required some new onstage tools. Yavor has integrated the Roland RT-30K, RT-30H, and TM-2 to meet those demands. “I’ve been digging the Roland trigger architecture and using that for hybrid drumming,” the drummer says. “I had one on the kick for some tracks that need that spiky, mean kick.”
As a tech head, he’s happy to detail the setup. “It’s a two-trigger setup for kick reinforcements and subtle spring reverb or claps on the snare.” Yavor can even envision expanding. “I’m looking to use the TM-6 and have some fun tom and timbales action—maybe multiple-velocity triggering going on.”
"I've been digging the Roland trigger architecture and using that for hybrid drumming."
The Sound of Science Fiction
On an aesthetic level, the band favors sci-fi vibes, like on the dreamy Cloud Drifter cover. “The idea around the album was to have each track convey a sense of voyage into the unknown,” Stefan explains. “Space and space-related stuff is always a good way of putting images into the music I make.”
No wonder the Roland Space Echo is key to taking songs to the outer limits. “It’s something we discovered early and has been part of our sound for ten years.”
L’Eclair has always traversed future and retro sounds, never content to sit in mere revivalism. “Synthesis in the ’90s we found more interesting for us,” Stefan says. “You had all the beauty of the ’70s in some of the sounds, but with the possibility of adding layers.”
Yavor similarly doesn’t revere vintage gear as a means to an end. “The only difference is having to put more work in with modern stuff because you have a lot of options,” he says.
Raw Power
With its most ambitious set of songs reaching the public, L’Eclair is perfectly poised to capitalize on the power of its potent performances. “For a long time, we always thought that we were stronger live—always kind of bringing the party,” Stefan shares. “But with this album, we changed our way of working, and we finally got something that enabled us to have the same energy and the confidence we have in the live sound in the studio.”
Cloud Drifter has certainly caught that lightning in a bottle. “To properly record that raw energy on a record is difficult. And I think that with this album, we are getting there.”
"I think we are people who tend to look at the future,” says Stef, “rather than ‘I wish I was there in ’72.’"
Telepathy and Time
At the center of that energy is the palpable connection between the Lilovs. They both have thoughts about what makes their relationship—and, by extension, the band—tick. “There’s telepathy,” begins Yavor, “but because you’re more connected, maybe you also get more friction.”
Still, the net positive is undeniable. “We’re quite different, and for me, it’s great because we are super-complementary,” Yavor continues. “Stef is great at creating an idea from nothing, believing in that, and getting it out there.”
For Stef’s part, he recalls bringing his younger brother aboard in the band’s early days with a hint of nostalgia. “I think you were 15 when we started,” he says, looking at Yarov. “At some point, you weren’t young anymore.”
Yet the group remains defiantly out of time. Despite a sound that flirts with many eras, the brothers see L’Eclair as a forward-thinking operation. “I think we are people who tend to look at the future,” says Stef, “rather than ‘I wish I was there in ’72.’”
