Track By Tracks: Maps And Foils - Nulle Part (2025)

1.Après l'éclipse (After the Eclipse):

"Après l’éclipse" is the first single from Nulle Part. We felt it was important to open the album with something a bit more accessible and melodic. Although the lyrics were written ten years ago, the music went through several stages before finally taking shape as a Maps and Foils song. While the album as a whole explores themes of wandering and self-destruction, this track emphasizes the importance of cherishing our loved ones and supporting each other through difficult times. It serves as both a beginning and an ending, depending on how empty the glass looks to you. I also really like what I call the Sum 41 part at the end, when all the backing vocals chime in.

2. L'or dans les autres (The gold in the others):

This song is about people trying to force-feed you their excess of kindness. An introvert VS extrovert situation, if you will. The music is very sludgy and pays tribute to the late Caleb Scofield (Cave In, Zozobra, Old Man Gloom). The drony transition at the end, with a voice whispering “you destroyed it all,” implies that the narrator will eventually cause his own demise.

3. Dies Irae (Day Of Wrath):

"Dies Irae" is a special one because it features our dear friend and band co-founder Thomas on guitar. I'm really happy he took the time to contribute to this song after leaving the band, and I’m grateful for everything he brought to us. Musically, it’s a heavier, lengthier take on our sound with spacey guitars on top. Lyrically, it is about two people having an argument so violent it feels like gods are throwing mountains at each other. The ascending noise at the end of the song features a submarine alarm close to the one at the end of Muse's song Space Dementia.

4. Nulle part (Nowhere):

"Nulle Part" was the first song we worked on when we started the writing process. We wanted to create something a bit more dynamic, inspired by what Refused did on The Shape of Punk to Come. The song title is actually borrowed from the first volume of Rat's, called En partance pour nulle part (Heading for Nowhere)—a French comic strip by Ptiluc about frogs and rats surviving in a post-apocalyptic world after humanity has been wiped out. Very absurd and dark humor. The song reflects on how artists have become salesmen and content creators just to survive in a capitalist system we can't seem to overcome. A big structural defect where art itself takes a back sit and where even money can’t compensate for the lack of time and resources. In the narrative, this is where the main character starts to give up.

5. Vacarme (Noise):

"Vacarme" was built around the drum beat at the end of "Nulle Part". Both songs form the backbone of the album. Dark and groovy. On the demo, it sounded like Guy Picciotto singing over a black metal instrumental. Regarding the concept of the album, this is where the narrator removes himself completely from what he loves, using pessimism as a coping mechanism.

6. Death Of The Fly (1968-1955):

One of the biggest influences on Nulle Part was Issues, Korn's fourth album. From the muddy sound to the weird interludes, I found a lot of parallels with what I wanted to achieve on Nulle part. "Fly" starts with an alternate quote from Albert Camus' book L'Etranger and leads to the next song "La mémoire". The audio tracks were destroyed and rebuilt digitally, much like what Trent Reznor did on Broken. The fly in question is actually Marty McFly from Back To The Future.

7. La mémoire (Memory):

Musically, we wanted to write a dissonant punk song that goes full throttle all the time. "La mémoire" is basically the bad ending of Back To The Future. Marty is disappearing, so he quickly writes his last will on the back of his sibling's picture so he can be remembered. Penned by Meursault from Camus' book, the lyrics are a tad more suicidal and a bleak conclusion to the self-destructive path the narrator took.

8. Soudain, le néant (Suddenly, The Nothing):

The album’s second interlude was created using Lucas’s drum samples, beatboxed vocals, and filtered guitars with some super secret lyrics buried beneath the noise. It recently occurred to me that The Nothing was actually the villain in The NeverEnding Story, which ties in perfectly with the theme of reality being erased.

9. Infernal (Hellish):

Like most of the songs on the album, "Infernal" was written on an acoustic guitar and then played extra loud in a rehearsal room with a live band. The idea was to write a song around a chord progression that didn’t require much movement on the fretboard. It ended up sounding like a classical piece or whatever Mansfield TYA would do to make a classy romantic post-punk song. Except we sound like a post-hardcore band playing nu-metal. The lyrics are an introspective journey through broken relationships and the questioning of their purpose, or their absence of one.

10.Crépuscule (Dusk):

Crépuscule is a moody closing track heavily inspired by what The Cure did on Pornography. The main goal was to write a song based on tribal drums and repetitive bass lines. It was a lot of fun layering snare drums and glass percussion with acoustic guitars and wild feedback. Lyrically, the song reflects on the mix of accomplishment and failure in one's life. The final words—"Des morceaux de joie cachés sous la peau, otages à jamais" ("Pieces of joy hidden under the skin, hostages forever")—suggest that the narrator may ultimately find peace, but only after losing everything. Thematically, it brings us back to "Après l'éclipse" as the narrator decides to start it all again.