Renowned multi-instrumentalist Cécile Schott, better known as Colleen, has announced her highly anticipated new album, Libres antes del final, set for release on March 20, 2026, on Thrill Jockey. Alongside the announcement, Schott has unveiled the album’s lead single, “Antídoto,” and confirmed a string of US and EU tour dates, including an appearance at the Long Play Festival. “Antídoto” is described as a “sparkling whirlwind of synthesis,” serving as the record’s vibrant emotional anchor.
While Schott describes the broader album as possessing a “tense and at times rather dark energy,” she positions this single as the “positive counterweight and joyful centerpiece.” She explains that the track is a “sun-drenched, edgy reply to moments when you feel anger,” representing her ability to build an antidote to negative feelings.
The genesis of Libres antes del final is deeply personal, rooted in a physical and psychological breakthrough; in April 2024, Schott decided to conquer a 30-year phobia of water; she shares:
“In April 2024, I made a decision that deeply impacted me, one on which I had procrastinated for years: learning to swim again, in the sea, after 30 years of water phobia. I longed for a reconnection to that feeling I had felt as a child swimming so freely and confidently, and when I moved to Barcelona in 2019, the sight of the Mediterranean Sea made me feel this limitation more and more acutely with each passing year. A show in the Azores in March 2024, corresponding to my 250th live show, functioned as a wakeup call for me: surrounded by this gorgeous environment where seeing dolphins is the norm, I realized I had to stop making excuses, and a month later, I finally contacted an open water teacher.
“I came to view the journey of learning to swim again as an adult as a powerful metaphor for what it’s like to learn to navigate life every single day, with each successive step feeling like a personal victory and milestone, in the unstable environment of the sea, its discomfort, the doubts about your abilities and the reality of facing your own limitations.
“I was especially blown away by the fact that it took me way longer to start to swim 5cm away from where my feet still touched the ground, than it subsequently took me to swim 250 meters away from the shore. Could this mean that everything in life works this way, that the first small step really is the hardest to take?”
True to Colleen’s legacy of using distinct parameters—from music boxes to baroque instruments—this record focuses on synthesis and urgency. Schott describes the work as an ode to the body, water, and the act of “repairing old wounds.” Ultimately, Libres antes del final is a sonic quest for liberation, striving to free the self from unnecessary suffering before the end of the life cycle.
Bandcamp: https://colleencolleen.bandcamp.com/album/libres-antes-del-final
Thrill Jockey: https://thrilljockey.com/products/libres-antes-del-final
Colleen Tour Dates
- Apr. 26 – Barcelona, ES – Foggy hex presents (Double show)
- May 2 – Brooklyn, NY – Long Play Festival at Public Records
- May 6 – Chicago, IL – Constellation
- May 7 – Portland, OR – Beacon Sound presents
- May 9 – San Francisco, CA – The Lab
- May 26 – Berlin, DE – Silent Green *
- June 11 – Brussels, BE – Le Botanique
* Performing with Midori Hirano