From Porto to the global stage, AELEEN are quickly establishing themselves as one of Nu Metal’s most exciting new forces. With their blistering new single 'Misfits', the quartet deliver a fierce anthem for outsiders everywhere, a song that tears down façades, rages against hypocrisy, and embraces difference with unapologetic pride.
Fronted by Kti Cruz’s fearless vocals, 'Misfits' surges with crushing riffs, precision drumming, and electronic undercurrents that blur aggression with atmosphere. Sung in both French and English, it’s a track that connects across borders, carrying the weight of AELEEN’s multicultural DNA and their unshakable drive to confront hard truths through sound.
So with the new single out now, we sat down with AELEEN to talk about their origins and what has been inspiring them most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Catie: My vocals
Ilia: Guitar
Fabien: Drums
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Catie: Rock alternative and metal.
Ilia: All kinds of metal.
Fabien: All kind of rock and metal.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Catie: Korn, Korn
Ilia: Black album, Metallica
Fabien: Nevermind, Nirvana
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Catie: Very difficult to choose just one title: Deftones - "Change (In the House of Flies)", Poetic, dark, sensual, metaphorical → a song that floats between beauty and unease. A Perfect Circle - "Judith", A cry of rage, visceral, spiritual and personal all at once. Raw, but elegant. Korn - "Freak on a Leash", A visceral anthem about pain, society and feeling trapped in your role. Chevelle - "The Red", A mix of melancholy, inner tension and explosion. Noir Désir - "Un homme pressé" (if you look at the French side), Social anger, direct, but with a real pen behind it.
Ilia: Korn, “Blind”
Fabien: Sleep Token, “The summoning”
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Catie : I stay alone and listen to the music over and over again. And the world of the song will inspire an emotion, a feeling, a theme, a vocal line.
Ilia: Nope
Fabien : Not specific, as it’s a slow process of mentally thinking and creating the right structure and parts that will express emotions, atmosphere and deliver the message the best way.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Catie: Silent Planet, Thrown, Jinjer, President, Wage War, Currents
Ilia: Ulver, Aigel, Bad omens
Fabien: Sleep Token, Spiritbox, Falling in reverse
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Catie: Deftones, Korn
Ilia: Deftones
Fabien: Korn
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Catie: The adrenaline of performing live, and see people enjoying our music.
Ilia: See the crowd slamming and having fun.
Fabien: The communion that you feel with people while performing live, sharing this adrenaline with them.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Catie: Sometimes not being able to express the ideas you have in your head when you're composing.
Ilia: Lots of work besides creating and playing music.
Fabien: Accept to stop working on a song and assume that this is the final version.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Catie: As a vocalist, to learn to breathe properly again.
Ilia: Musical theory matters. It helps a lot to understand, analyse and compose music.
Fabien: Keep listening to all kinds of music and be as open-minded as possible, discover new bands and absorb all kinds of inspiration.
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AELEEN's new single 'Misfits' is out now. Check it out in the player below.