A fourth wall that is broken, an illusion that falls apart. The post-apocalyptic universe of the album cover however does not come without hope: when everything has broken down, a new world can be invented. This is the vibe of Next.Ape: realistic but positive and philosophical.

Antoine Pierre, leader and drummer based in Brussels, loves to compose, arrange and produce sound. His career proves it: he dives into many musical genres with passion.
For Next.Ape, he writes demos in his studio in Brussels and sends them directly to Budapest, in Veronika Harcsa's email box. The singer and lyricist is then looking for a tune to lay her voice on. She tries vocalizations, or reads the pages of a book she has at hand to fix a melodic line. Then follows the writing of lyrics, most often engaged and always full of meaning. The group can then rehearse and try out the new tracks. Each one imagines what they can bring, add, express: guitarist Lorenzo Di Maio and his elegance, multi-instrumentalist Cédric Raymond and his genius ideas, without forgetting precious keyboard player Jérôme Klein and his optimism.

Once the tracks are recorded in the studio, production can begin. Antoine imagines a string quartet, an extra bass, choirs, claps and voices,... Pierre Dozin, the band's live and studio sound engineer, works in tandem with Antoine and adds his temperament and colors to the mix, as a true co-producer. That's it, everything is in the box.

Ben Wendel (US), who had participated in the first tour of the group in 2019, is invited on 'Standing Tall'. The sound palette is further enriched by the pinched sound and the invigorating improvisations of his saxophone.