[Cover photo credit to Titouan Massé]
Breton Producer Émilie Quinquis has announced details of a new Quinquis (pronounced: KAN-KEES) album, eor (which means “anchor” in Breton). Kicking off with a collaboration with South African artist Desire Marea, the track “Inkanuko”, (pronounced: In-kan-oo-ko), the new album will be released on vinyl, CD and digitally on May 9, 2025 via Mute.
“Inkanuko” (meaning “desire” in Zulu) is a track that might be the first ever sung in both Breton and Zulu.
Émilie explains:
…it’s a song about making sure that little flame inside of you is not going to die. Desire was an amazing person to help kick off the idea for the whole album.
Desire goes on to say:
Working on this was an absolute pleasure and honour. QUINQUIS created such a sensual soundscape, add to that the most delicate vocals, I was immediately inspired. A song moving me at such a carnal level led me to ponder on a disconnect between spirit and flesh.
Émilie lives on Ushant Island, a landmass of six square miles off the coast of Brittany. Having learned to sail solo three years ago in order to get home to the island and leave again on her terms, she kept going. She crossed the Irish Sea, circled the Scottish islands and Faroes, and “experienced the vulnerability and power of living in the elements.” It inspired her new album teasing out the “startling stories of the sea.”
eor came to life through her modular synthesizers and was co-Produced alongside Gareth Jones (Sunroof, Depeche Mode, Liars, Einstürzende Neubauten).
While inspired by the sea, she kept coming back to “imagining mermaids in folklore and wanted to reshape that figure for the 21st century.”
She says:
I wanted to think about the essence of a mermaid – the desire to encounter beauty that makes you want to lose yourself completely, to discover someone so enchanting that you would follow her into the sea, even if that would kill you.
We don’t hear many stories about mermaids falling in love with mermaids, or sailors falling in love with sailors. I wanted to access these feelings, and these stories in a way that felt powerful, that felt right for these times.
eor was produced by Émilie Quinquis & Gareth Jones. The album was mixed by Gareth Jones at Strongroom, London, recorded on Ushant Island by Émilie Quinquis and mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road.
