“When we finally finished the project, I was just like ‘Yay, we’re done!’ Then I went to sleep to go to work tomorrow. I guess life just goes by like that,” recalled Thông, a member of Coïncidence, regarding when he wrapped up production for the band’s debut EP “Không Ngủ Quên.”
The story of Coïncidence starts with the group’s two key members, Hoàng Thông and Hữu Hảo, who have been friends since middle school. They took French-language classes together and shared a mutual enthusiasm for French music. Back then, they even played acoustic music together. They lost touch while attending different high schools, but eventually reconnected six years later when they were both college students stuck at home during COVID-19 lockdown.
At that time, Thông played guitar in alternative rock band Cheffin’, while Hảo was a drummer for indie group KLAF. During the social distancing period, Thông spent a lot of time expanding his music-producing skills, branching out beyond rock. He eventually came up with a dreamy, electronic demo instrumental after playing with synthesizer plugins downloaded from the internet. In the process, Thông fortuitously came across a SoundCloud track that Hảo had made for fun.
Soon enough, Thông shot Hảo a text, and the two began talking again. Thông’s demo would eventually be turned into the pair’s first song together, ‘Không giống những đôi chân chạm mặt đất.’ Released in August 2021, it’s a dream-like, floating track featuring atmospheric, progressing synth pads sprinkled with bright arpeggios and minimalist drum sounds. Towards the second half of the record, resonant synth leads emerge to guide the composition into a grand and radiant electronic soundscape.
The group shared that the lyrics reflect the themes of “free-spiritedness, tranquility in thoughts, and in one’s way of living.” Hảo conceptualized them by drawing from his personal experiences and emotions while living in a pandemic.
The pair named themselves “Coïncidence,” the French word for “coincidence,” as it reflects their happenstance reunion and their shared interest in French music and culture from middle school. Furthermore, their current electronic, synth-driven sound is heavily inspired by French musicians, especially the Parisian nu-disco outfit L'Impératrice.
After the lockdown was lifted, the two occasionally met up to work on new tunes. But a new challenge emerged: post-pandemic life required Hảo and Thông to juggle between chasing their musical passions and their personal career goals. Thông had to focus on completing his university degree, while also securing a job in sound design as it related to music production. Meanwhile, Hảo started a new life in Lille, France to pursue his master’s degree.
“Things were delayed for quite a while. There were times when we were too busy with life to focus on creating new music,” Thông said. Over the span of three years, from 2021 to 2023, the group managed to release a total of five singles. While it may seem like the two young artists are moving slowly on their musical journey, they remain committed to their path. In August 2024, Coïncidence dropped their first ever EP — “Không Ngủ Quên.”
“Không Ngủ Quên” consists of five tracks and serves as a refined collection of Coïncidence’s works over the years, with two brand new tunes added into the mix. Additionally, the older songs in the tracklist have been remastered to improve the mixes and make them more sonically cohesive with the EP’s overall sound. Meanwhile, the two new additions, ‘Không Ai’ and ‘Một Bài Nhạc Nhảy,’ offer the audience a glimpse into the type of sounds that the two are currently exploring.
In a way, the concise mini-album encapsulates Coïncidence’s musical identity. In nearly every song on the EP, at some point in the track, a monologue in French appears. This idea came from Hảo, who often samples voice recordings of himself, others, and audio segments that he finds interesting, to further enhance the themes of the song.
An example of this technique is in the 4th track ‘Màu Đêm Xanh’ featuring June San and Bảo Vox. In the intro, the group uses an audio excerpt from the 1974 French film Un homme qui dort (The Man Who Sleeps); it's an inner monologue of the film’s protagonist, a young college student who feels isolated and indifferent to the world around him. This soundbite was used to highlight the song’s concept, which revolves around “a person who grows weary of the external factors affecting their ability to make a decision, but ultimately, they choose to embrace their personal choices.”
Cinema also influences Thông's approach to music production. Thông envisions crafting a song like making a film score, rather than sticking to the conventional verse-chorus structure. “I enjoy using varying tempos and dynamics to guide the listener, and then everything will build up to a climax,” Thông shared.
This film-scoring approach is evident across the EP, with every song seeming to have a “final act” where vocals and numerous instruments fuse to culminate in a grand, sonic peak. Meanwhile, a clear example of the group’s appreciation of playful structure is the EP’s lead single ‘Một Bài Nhạc Nhảy,’ a disco-inspired tune with mellow synths layered on top of funky guitar basslines, made simply for people to dance to.
‘Một Bài Nhạc Nhảy’ starts off fast-paced, setting the tone for its danceable nature. But as the first verse arrives, the tempo suddenly slows down, Hảo’s vocals start harmonizing on a soulful, rhythmic jam, letting the listeners warm up. The tempo picks up again for the chorus, signaling that it’s time to groove. Then the second verse arrives, featuring new synth leads and arpeggios; there are no vocals, just the synthesizers taking center stage. The vocals come in again in the final chorus alongside new sounds that are added to enrich the instrumental’s details and create an energetic and vibrant conclusion.
The EP took about a year to come to fruition, with the band using their time off from work and college to rework old tracks and create new ones. They titled the project “Không Ngủ Quên” (Don’t Fall Asleep) because they used the phrase to remind themselves during the production process to “make sure to finish [this] part before going to sleep, don’t leave things unfinished.”
An EP wasn't the only new material that Coïncidence worked on during their year-long process. They are planning to release a live session video in late 2024, with Hảo and Thông performing tracks from “Không Ngủ Quên,” along with a new single that isn’t part of the EP's tracklist.
“In a live setting, the sound becomes thicker and richer, listening to it will be like a treat to the ears,” Thông said. The group will arrange the backing tracks to leave spaces for instruments like guitars, drums, or synthesizers to be performed live. Hảo typically manages the vocals and drums, while Thông will take care of the guitar and synth. Occasionally, some of their collaborators will join in as well. “When the instruments are played by real people, it brings a more human touch to the sound. I really like that,” Thông shared.
Coïncidence at a live show at Saigon's Yoko Cafe. Photos by @saxichuongduong.
The upcoming live session was recorded during Hảo's three-month visit to Vietnam, after which he returned to France. So these sessions also serve as a way for the band to document the special occasion when Coïncidence core members are not 10,000 kilometers apart.
“In a live setting, the sound becomes thicker and richer, listening to it will be like a treat to the ears. When the instruments are played by real people, it brings a more human touch to the sound. I really like that.”
So what's next after “Không Ngủ Quên?” Well, they’ll probably return to their daily lives, pursuing their passion for music whenever time permits. They’ll continue to collect stories and ideas while messing around with musical instruments and shaping the Coïncidence sound. No one knows what the future holds for them, but regardless of the outcome, their mindset is simple: “In the end, the best part of it all is those moments when we get to make our own music, and when all of you guys get to hear them.”
