French Electropop Composer SAGE Premieres Lush Single “Don’t Tell Me”

From his self-titled debut full-length, out April 29.

March 24, 2016

French electropop composer SAGE, a.k.a. Ambroise Williaume, is releasing his self-titled debut full-length album in the U.S. on April 29 via Labelgum . Today, Williaume is sharing "Don't Tell Me," a super lush track with vocal echoes, layers of drum machine beats, and waves of hurt stemming from those who pretend to be something they're not. You think that no one can see through your little game, Williaume croons. Please don't tell me how many smiles you can fake/ How many lies you can live—she just wants everyone to be true to themselves, because real connection relies on self-knowledge and openness.

"'Don’t Tell Me' is a song about people who lie to themselves, who play a character in their lives instead of living them," Williaume wrote to The FADER in an email. "I was listening a lot to Bruce Springsteen’s album Nebraska when I wrote it. Musically, it’s one of the most simple songs of the album, almost like a blues chord progression, except for the first pre-chorus that plays with chromatic movements in the melody. I wanted to have a very dynamic and analog sound on this song and twisted all the drum machines by recording them several times in an old tape recorder."

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Listen to "Don't Tell Me" below, and preorder SAGE here.

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French Electropop Composer SAGE Premieres Lush Single “Don’t Tell Me”