Initials MB - Cinema (The Essential Library, Vol. 1) (2026) Hi-Res

One year after Brighter, Initials MB returns with his 6th album Cinema, an instrumental record extending the momentum initiated with Bang bang! (released in 2023 on the le pop club label). Cinema immerses the listener in a retro, cinematic atmosphere, where a gentle nostalgia floats — like an idealized vision of 1960s film music. The artist’s signature sound is fully present: a delicate blend of light pop, baroque influences, and psychedelia. Carefully crafted arrangements bring together violins, vibraphones, and 60s organs, crossed with subtle acid-tinged fuzz guitar lines. Dreamlike jazz-inspired choirs and a lyrical voice carry the album, giving it a unique sense of reverie.

The album originated with the restoration of a spinet, an instrument long fantasized about by the artist. This keyboard became the foundation for most of the compositions, adding a precious and delicate color at the crossroads of French and Italian film music from the 1960s. Echoes of great composers can be heard throughout the album, from François de Roubaix and Alain Goraguer to the cinematic universe of Serge Gainsbourg, as well as Italian figures such as Piero Umiliani, Bruno Nicolai, and, more recently, Daniel Luppi.

Cinema was recorded in 2024 and 2025 at Initials MB’s studio in the south of Lyon, near Vienne (France), using vintage instruments — Hammond organ, spinet, vibraphone, 60s guitars, and more — to stay as close as possible to the sound of the era. Self-taught from an early age, the artist plays most of the instruments himself, joined by a few talented collaborators listed below.