French hard-techno and electro pop artist BFRND has officially released “Elephant” the original catwalk soundtrack of Balenciaga’s SS23 show. Created in collaboration with German rapper UFO361 and producer SONUS030, the trio wanted to produce something “we’ve never heard before,” that gives strength to their audience, with inspiration for the track coming from the idea of having to fight to be who you are. “Demna had a very clear message to communicate through this show, it was all about fighting to be who you are and that’s something that speaks to my soul,” he says. “I have been physically and mentally attacked for being different, either because of my appearance or my sexuality so doing this track felt like writing the story of my life.”

Riffing off the metaphorical idiom, “the elephant in the room”, which refers to a large or important topic, question or controversial issue that seems obvious but that no one wants to bring attention to, the track, while hard-hitting and severe, is actually pretty profound. “Elephant is the spirit animal of Sonus and it inspired me a lot because it made me think about that idiomatic expression,” BFRND explains. “For me that’s exactly what the show was about.” The descriptive turn of phrase is often used to describe an issue that involves a social taboo or which generates disagreement; maybe because it makes some people uncomfortable or is personally, socially, or politically embarrassing or emotionally charged, inflammatory or dangerous; but BFRND is bidding to dismantle this. The overarching idea is that regardless of how uncomfortable something might make someone, BFRND and his collaborators want to remind people that nothing in this world can stop them from being who they are.

For BFRND, composing music for a fashion show is an exceedingly different process than working on his own, individual soundscapes. “When I compose music for a show my mission is to translate Demna’s collection and story line into sound, when I make my own I am the only person who decides what it’s gonna sound like, It’s like therapy. I speak about my emotions, my life, my fantasies, whatever I feel like resembles me. If I want to do a jazz song or collaborate with a reggaeton singer I can, as long as it fits my identity, it’s my story. It is much easier to produce for Demna though, because he is there to guide me, he knows what he wants. When I’m working on my album I have to face my own insecurities. It’s much easier to tell someone else’s story than my own.”

It’d be remiss not to mention the flaming artwork that goes along with the LP. Even though it looks like an oil painting, BFRND says that it was actually “fully generated with Dall-e 2, a text-to-image artificial intelligence developed by Open AI.” It feels simultaneously futuristic and classic.

From here, BFRND has a lot of endeavours on the horizon. This year he hopes to release his debut album which has been in the works for four years, which will be followed by a tour. “I’m also producing music for other artists which is something I enjoy doing a lot. My biggest dream is to work on movie scores. I’ve never done that before but I hope that’s something I will start working on next year.” The digital “Elephant” LP is available on all streaming platforms now.

balenciaga.com