Chapter 1: The bloom of an artist
Vital is a young artist from the countryside of Rouen who is exploding internationally. His first connection to music was during his teenage years by playing guitar in a rock band and which has convinced him to pursue his studies in sound engineering in Brussels. This decision will quickly lead him to his artistic alias - Raär, which means odds or strange in Flemish. He has been introduced to techno and experimental music by a classmate who was fascinated by these sonorities but the spark has been ignited by a professor who has asked the class to recreate a track from The Prodigy just by using disordered samples. Rather than reproducing the track Vital has built his own interpretation and soon begun to visit more and more the school’s studio where soon the magic happened.
Chapter 2: Raär's path
In 2016, the label House Plant Record released Sometimes I Hear Sirens, the third track produced by Raär from the studio of his school, which soon has been popular with more than 1M views on YouTube which is a performance for a lo-fi track. This title, is like an introduction to the future sound of Raär which will evolve slowly to a more oniric and mystic atmosphere. In 2018, he created his imprint Vaerel Record which gives him a total freedom on his artistic direction and career. The decision was in reaction to labels’ directives which harness his creativity and do not match with his vision. This step is a major shift to a more esoteric aesthetic which discloses a new identity to the scene.
Chapter 3: Vaerel's mystic aesthetic
Vaerel is directly inspired by a very old tarot game which is the narrative line of each release on the imprint. Raär, picks a card which character will become the name of the EP and the artwork the vinyl’s cover. Then, he tried to create a sound design which atmosphere and energy are tied to the poem associated to the card to create a complete sound story.
"Remember, son of Earth, that devotion is a divine law from which none may have dispensation, expect nothing, only ingratitude, from men. Let your heart be always ready to tender its account to the Eternal, if Arcanum XII appears in your horoscope, violent death will lie in wait for you on your path through life. But if the world makes an attempt upon your earthly life, do not die without accepting with resignation the will of God and without pardoning your enemies; for whoever does not forgive shall be condemned, beyond this life, to an eternal solitude."