Formed in 2016, Bristol’s instrumental-rock trio Last Hyena has built its identity on intricate math-rock rhythms and sprawling post-rock soundscapes, punctuated by powerful riffs. Their debut album, How Soon is Mars? (2021), earned praise from Punktastic, Noizze, At The Barrier, Visions, and Everything Is Noise, and secured slots at festivals like ArcTanGent, Portals, and PWER.
Today, the band shares their new single “Make It Sound French” and we have a pleasure to share their special commentary below.
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Mark Roberts (Delta Sleep, Black Peaks, Poly-Math, Jamie Lenman) at Devon’s Middle Farm Studios, “Make It Sound French” captures the challenge of navigating life’s unpredictable moments without relying on words.
The band explains that the track builds from intricate guitar textures and driving rhythms to cathartic releases, using dynamic shifts to express the tension between disorder and serenity—a sonic representation of working through inner chaos to find clarity.
Discussing the track’s purpose, the band states: “With ‘Make It Sound French’, we wanted to explore the emotional weight of complex situations purely through music. It’s a deeply personal piece for us, with the absence of words inviting a more universal experience, where the music itself speaks directly to the emotions we all go through. The track builds from intricate guitar textures, driving rhythms to moments of cathartic release, using dynamic shifts and thoughtful builds to express the tension between disorder and serenity aiming to create a sonic representation of the process of working through inner chaos and ultimately finding clarity.
“The title comes from a story shared by a close friend whose father was in a punk band in his younger years. During one of their shows, the band decided to play an impromptu cover of ‘Ça plane pour moi’ by Plastic Bertrand. When the lead singer, our friend’s father, told his bandmates he didn’t know the lyrics, one of them responded with “just make it sound French!”. This spontaneous moment stuck with us because it perfectly embodies the themes we wanted to explore in the track: the idea of adapting to the unexpected, leaning into the chaos and finding a way to make something work even when things aren’t perfect. The title captures that spirit of improvisation and fluidity, much like the journey the music itself takes listeners on. We’re thrilled to share this journey with our listeners, and we hope it resonates with anyone who’s ever had to find peace in the midst of turmoil.”
The track’s construction is illuminated in a detailed breakdown from the band:
Rory – “A lot of the time we tend to come up with the song title before writing the song itself, and Make It Sound French was one of these times. I was telling Max and Josh a story my housemate had just told me, about his dad’s time spent as a vocalist in a punk band in his teenage years. Mid-set during one of their gigs, the band had the sudden urge to play an unplanned cover of the Plastic Bertrand song ‘Ça plane pour moi’. When our mate’s dad told his bandmates he didn’t know the lyrics, the guitarist just shouted back ‘just make it sound French!’ and just launched straight in”
Max – “We all thought the story was hilarious, and we kind of took on the phrase ‘Make It Sound French’ as an alternative for ‘Fuck it, just get on with it – regardless of what’s happening around you’, a kind of ode to pushing through the chaos to find some kind of positive outcome – which is something you need to remind yourself regularly as a DIY band!”
Josh – “When it comes to the music itself, we generally start with a guitar part, whether that’s a riff or chord progression. For Make It Sound French, the starting point was the opening guitar part you first hear on the track, then the rest of the song came in a fairly linear fashion after that. This is actually quite rare for us, as we often start in the middle and work outwards either way from there! We also like to try and balance out both the ‘math’ and ‘post’ rock elements pretty evenly, which I think is apparent in ‘Make It Sound French’, the song being almost book-ended by huge post-rock sections, with the more choppy and rhythmic parts sandwiched in between”
