In biology, the imago is the final stage of an insect, the moment it completes its metamorphosis. In psychoanalysis, it is the idealised image we build of someone else. IMAGO unfolds its world through that double meaning, and the title of its debut album, Eclosion (French for “hatching”), is no coincidence: after several years of moulting, the band is finally leaving its chrysalis.

A journey among insects

Conceived as an extended metaphor for our society, seen through the tiny lens of arthropods, Eclosion invites listeners to be carried away by dreamlike pieces or swept up by groovier passages. Along the way you meet an anthill (The Anthill), dragonflies (Dragonflight), a limping grasshopper (Limping Grasshopper) and fireflies (Fireflies), across seven tracks and just over thirty minutes, from Garden of Stars to Ghost by way of The 5fth Element.

The four-piece cites Pink Floyd, Steven Wilson, Camel, Supertramp, Radiohead and Muse as influences. Entirely self-produced, the album was mixed by Denis Caribaux, sound engineer at Studio Guillaume Tell in Paris, which has hosted Peter Gabriel, Radiohead and Yes. Its music video, The Anthill, was hailed by RSTLSS.com as “authentic and romantic, rock and symphonic, touching and moving”. The visual world is the work of illustrator Ambre Renault.

From egg to nymph

It all began in 2021, when Martin decided to play his songs with other musicians. The project was then called Omnipotamus, a burlesque adventure inspired by an imaginary world of anthropomorphic animals, somewhere between Dungeons & Dragons, Hollow Knight, Tolkien and La Fontaine’s fables. After a first show at the Été d’Amour festival on 30 April 2022, the project found its final identity: Imago. In 2024, despite the distance between its members, the band decided to record its first album to crystallise its music.

About the band

Led by Martin, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, IMAGO today brings together Andreas on bass and vocals, Mattin on keyboards and backing vocals, and Florian on drums, whose arrival brought new dynamics to the repertoire. After an album tour in 2026 across the Hérault and as far as the Aveyron, the band is already preparing new songs for 2027 and an even more immersive live show. The rest is yet to be written.

Find them here and there:
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The The Anthill music video
Listen to Eclosion on Bandcamp
Eclosion on Spotify