Synths, Dreams, and French Culture: Inside Vietnamese Duo Coïncidence's 1st EP
“When we finally finished the project, I was just like ‘Yay, we’re done!’ Then I went to sleep to go to work tomorrow. I guess life just goes by like that,” recalled Thông, a member of Coïncidence, regarding when he wrapped up production for the band’s debut EP “Không Ngủ Quên.”
Reconnecting during the pandemic
Hoàng Thông and Hữu Hảo have been friends since middle school. Photo by Trần Phúc.
The story of Coïncidence starts with the group’s two key members, Hoàng Thông and Hữu Hảo, who have been friends since middle school. They took French-language classes together and shared a mutual enthusiasm for French music. Back then, they even played acoustic music together. They lost touch while attending different high schools, but eventually reconnected six years later when they were both college students stuck at home during COVID-19 lockdown.
At that time, Thông played guitar in alternative rock band Cheffin’, while Hảo was a drummer for indie group KLAF. During the social distancing period, Thông spent a lot of time expanding his music-producing skills, branching out beyond rock. He eventually came up with a dreamy, electronic demo instrumental after playing with synthesizer plugins downloaded from the internet. In the process, Thông fortuitously came across a SoundCloud track that Hảo had made for fun.
Soon enough, Thông shot Hảo a text, and the two began talking again. Thông’s demo would eventually be turned into the pair’s first song together, ‘Không giống những đôi chân chạm mặt đất.’ Released in August 2021, it’s a dream-like, floating track featuring atmospheric, progressing synth pads sprinkled with bright arpeggios and minimalist drum sounds. Towards the second half of the record, resonant synth leads emerge to guide the composition into a grand and radiant electronic soundscape.
The group shared that the lyrics reflect the themes of “free-spiritedness, tranquility in thoughts, and in one’s way of living.” Hảo conceptualized them by drawing from his personal experiences and emotions while living in a pandemic.
The pair named themselves “Coïncidence,” the French word for “coincidence,” as it reflects their happenstance reunion and their shared interest in French music and culture from middle school. Furthermore, their current electronic, synth-driven sound is heavily inspired by French musicians, especially the Parisian nu-disco outfit L'Impératrice.
After the lockdown was lifted, the two occasionally met up to work on new tunes. But a new challenge emerged: post-pandemic life required Hảo and Thông to juggle between chasing their musical passions and their personal career goals. Thông had to focus on completing his university degree, while also securing a job in sound design as it related to music production. Meanwhile, Hảo started a new life in Lille, France to pursue his master’s degree.
“Things were delayed for quite a while. There were times when we were too busy with life to focus on creating new music,” Thông said. Over the span of three years, from 2021 to 2023, the group managed to release a total of five singles. While it may seem like the two young artists are moving slowly on their musical journey, they remain committed to their path. In August 2024, Coïncidence dropped their first ever EP — “Không Ngủ Quên.”
Don't fall asleep when making an EP
“Không Ngủ Quên” consists of five tracks and serves as a refined collection of Coïncidence’s works over the years, with two brand new tunes added into the mix. Additionally, the older songs in the tracklist have been remastered to improve the mixes and make them more sonically cohesive with the EP’s overall sound. Meanwhile, the two new additions, ‘Không Ai’ and ‘Một Bài Nhạc Nhảy,’ offer the audience a glimpse into the type of sounds that the two are currently exploring.
In a way, the concise mini-album encapsulates Coïncidence’s musical identity. In nearly every song on the EP, at some point in the track, a monologue in French appears. This idea came from Hảo, who often samples voice recordings of himself, others, and audio segments that he finds interesting, to further enhance the themes of the song.
An example of this technique is in the 4th track ‘Màu Đêm Xanh’ featuring June San and Bảo Vox. In the intro, the group uses an audio excerpt from the 1974 French film Un homme qui dort (The Man Who Sleeps); it's an inner monologue of the film’s protagonist, a young college student who feels isolated and indifferent to the world around him. This soundbite was used to highlight the song’s concept, which revolves around “a person who grows weary of the external factors affecting their ability to make a decision, but ultimately, they choose to embrace their personal choices.”
Cinema also influences Thông's approach to music production. Thông envisions crafting a song like making a film score, rather than sticking to the conventional verse-chorus structure. “I enjoy using varying tempos and dynamics to guide the listener, and then everything will build up to a climax,” Thông shared.
This film-scoring approach is evident across the EP, with every song seeming to have a “final act” where vocals and numerous instruments fuse to culminate in a grand, sonic peak. Meanwhile, a clear example of the group’s appreciation of playful structure is the EP’s lead single ‘Một Bài Nhạc Nhảy,’ a disco-inspired tune with mellow synths layered on top of funky guitar basslines, made simply for people to dance to.
Written by Khang Nguyễn. Top graphic by Dương Trương and Ngọc Tạ.
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