After making an understated debut in 2023, Paris-based indie art-rock project Books of Moods have fully stepped into the limelight with an impressive first album. Suitably titled Dreams, this record moves from one vibrant scene to the next, bringing to the fore themes of memory, imagination, reality and fantasy. At the helm of this project is songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Hugo Sailer who draws on his love for cinema and cross-generational music to craft these genre-blending singles. Another important character to this album is Sailer‘s Parisian apartment, which imbued a sense of warmth, intimacy and nostalgia into the songwriting process. You can hear that broad array of influences in the constantly shifting sonic identity of Dreams from indie-rock to psychedelic pop to alt-folk, yet for all of these changes, these eleven tracks feel like a cohesive narrative. For On The Record, we wanted to dive further into the creativity behind Dreams, so we had the fortunate opportunity to ask Sailer all of our burning questions.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with Books of Moods, can you introduce yourself?
I’m Hugo, the musician behind Books of Moods, an independent project based in Paris. I write, record and produce in my parisian studio, blending indie rock, psychedelic pop, folk and cinematic influences. The idea behind Books of Moods is quite simple: each song is like a chapter exploring a different emotion, memory or state of mind. I’m fascinated by nostalgia, dreams and the way music can create imaginary places that feel strangely familiar.
Congratulations on the recent release of your album! For those discovering you through Dreams for the first time, how would you describe this release in three words?
Nostalgic. Cinematic. Dreamlike.
Those three words probably define the emotional landscape of the album. Dreams lives somewhere between memories and imagination, reality and fiction, like a place you’ve never been to but somehow remember.
The album really leans into nostalgia, so what instruments or production tricks represent that intangible nature of memory?
I was constantly searching for sounds that felt slightly blurred, like memories that have faded over time. Acoustic guitars play a big role because they bring warmth and intimacy, but I also used layered electric guitars, larsens, vintage-inspired synths, tape-like textures and a lot of reverb to create depth and distance.
I also like leaving imperfections in recordings. Memories aren’t perfect, so I didn’t want the music to feel overly polished. Sometimes the small flaws are what make something feel human and believable.
It’s bookended by ‘Space, Pt. 1’ at the opening and ‘Amoureux’ at the end, so why did you choose to close out the record with your only French-language track?
Space, Pt. 1 opens the door to the dream. It’s like taking the first step into another world. Amoureux does the opposite: it gently brings the listener back to reality.
It’s the only French song on the album because French feels much more intimate and vulnerable to me. Most of the album exists behind the soft veil of English, but at the very end I wanted to remove that distance. The acoustic arrangement reinforces that feeling. It’s almost as if the dream fades away and only something honest and essential remains.
With tracks jumping from the stillness of ‘Slow Day’ to the electric energy of ‘Fashion Romance’, how did you sequence the tracklist to ensure the album feels like a cohesive journey rather than a collection of singles?
I approached the album almost like a film. Each song represents a different scene, mood or chapter, but they all belong to the same emotional universe.
I paid a lot of attention to transitions and pacing. Some tracks create moments of reflection, others bring movement or tension. I wanted the listener to experience a journey rather than a playlist. The sequencing follows a dream logic more than a traditional narrative, where emotions guide the progression instead of events.
Dreams was made over three years in your home studio, so how did the physical space of a Parisian apartment shape the record’s intimate nature?
The apartment became part of the album in a way. Working alone in a small Parisian space naturally encourages introspection. There is no real separation between daily life and creation. A song can begin after breakfast, late at night, or in the middle of an ordinary afternoon. Over three years, that apartment became both a living space and a creative laboratory.
The limitations of a home studio also pushed me toward intimacy. Instead of chasing huge productions, I focused on atmosphere, songwriting and emotional honesty. Looking back, I think those constraints helped give Dreams its warmth and closeness.
Although most of the album was created alone, collaboration remained an important part of the process. For tracks such as Happiness, Gaia, Space Part I & II, Holidays and Travel, my friend Camille Guilleton brought the songs to life with his wonderful drumming. His playing added a human energy that perfectly complemented the album’s dreamlike atmosphere.
I was also fortunate to collaborate with Lara Martinovic, who sings with me on Space Part I & II, and Susie Lopez Uros, who not only mixed the album but also contributed vocals on Fashion Romance. Their voices helped expand the emotional palette of the record while preserving its intimate character.
In the end, Dreams reflects both solitude and connection. It was born in a small apartment, often in moments of isolation, but it became richer thanks to the talented people who joined me along the way.
Your passion for cinema heavily influences the Books of Moods project, so if Dreams was the soundtrack to any movie, what would it be?
That’s a difficult question because Dreams probably belongs to an imaginary film that doesn’t exist yet.
But if I had to compare it to a cinematic universe, it would probably sit somewhere between the emotional nostalgia of a Wes Anderson film, the dreamlike mystery of David Lynch, and the intimate melancholy found in Sofia Coppola’s work. I love stories where not much seems to happen on the surface, yet everything happens emotionally underneath. That’s very close to what I was trying to achieve with Dreams.
More than telling a story, I wanted the album to create a feeling, like a memory you can’t fully place, or a dream that stays with you long after you’ve woken up.
There’s also a broad range of styles and sounds throughout the album, from psych-pop to art-rock to indie, so which bands/artists have had the most profound impact on your songwriting?
My biggest influences come from different eras. From the 60s and 70s, artists like The Beatles, David Bowie, The Velvet Underground and T. Rex had a huge impact on my songwriting and approach to melody.
More recently, bands and artists like Arcade Fire, Grandaddy, Acetone, SALES, Crumb, Mac DeMarco, Patrick Watson and Radiohead have inspired me through their ability to create atmosphere and emotion.
What else do you hope that listeners will take away from Dreams?
I hope people find pieces of their own lives inside it. The songs are inspired by personal emotions, but they’re not meant to tell my story alone.
If someone listens to the album and it reminds them of a place, a person, a summer, a dream or a forgotten memory, then the album has done its job. I think music becomes truly meaningful when it stops belonging to the artist and starts belonging to the listener.
Following the release of this album, what will be next on the horizon for you?
I’d love to return to the stage soon, first through intimate acoustic performances in Paris and then with the full band. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful musicians who bring these songs to life.
At the same time, I’m already working on new material. The next chapter of Books of Moods is beginning to take shape, and my main focus is writing a second album. I don’t want to repeat Dreams, but I do want to continue exploring this cinematic and emotional universe while pushing it somewhere new.
You can also find title-track ‘Dreams’ in our Shades of Pop playlist.
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