We’ve grown so accustomed to the familiar instruments of pop — the shimmering guitar, the pulse of drums, the emotive sway of piano — that they’ve become the invisible architecture of this modern music. But every so often, an artist appears who rewires our sense of what pop can hold. Anatole Muster, the 23-year-old Swiss-born, London-based musician, composer, and accordionist, does just that. With both hands on an instrument long relegated to nostalgia he bends air into melody, transforming the accordion into something weightless, contemporary, and full of quiet wonder.
In his world, jazz isn’t an artefact but a living, breathing energy that slips easily into the digital bloodstream of pop. And there is so much more to his musical universe. What makes Muster’s music so magnetic is his refusal to treat tradition as a constraint. He reimagines it. Through his second album, hopecore, he reintroduces warmth and sincerity into an era often defined by irony. Released entirely independently, the record is both bold and vulnerable — a meditation on melody, collaboration, and the simple act of believing in sound as an agent of joy. His distinct sonic language moves freely between smooth jazz, hyperpop, 80s nostalgia, and electronic improvisation, each track unfolding like a lucid dream. It’s music that invites you to listen with curiosity rather than expectation.
In our conversation, Anatole speaks about the freedom of unlearning genre, the friendships that shaped hopecore, and how his time at the Royal Academy of Music in London deepened his appreciation for spontaneity and emotion. He reflects on the playful, sometimes accidental moments that birthed tracks like i’ve never missed a plane, and on the community that’s grown around his music — from viral covers by young fans to collaborations with artists like M Field, Button Masher, and Hadrien Feraud.
What emerges is a portrait of a young artist who isn’t chasing trends but quietly expanding the vocabulary of pop. By reimagining the accordion for the 21st century, Anatole Muster reminds us that innovation in music doesn’t always come from new technology — sometimes it’s born from re-enchanting the familiar. In hopecore, he offers not just an album, but a feeling: that hope, melody, and emotion still have a home in the soundscape of the present.
Hello, Anatole! How are you? hopecore has been out for several months now. How are you finding its development?
I’m extremely happy about the response, especially having released and promoted this album fully by myself. I’m seeing a large number of covers and transcriptions which is most exciting of all because it makes me feel like the music community has accepted my album. Having young musicians appreciate my work really means a lot to me because it reminds me of myself and how I listen and interact with music online. Artists I’ve been looking up to for a long time have also reacted positively to the album which of course is very encouraging to me.
Your debut album, Wonderful now, was a significant success, but it was more oriented towards electronic dance-ish music. What inspired you to explore a different sound and direction with hopecore?
When I made my first album I was blending influences more cautiously than on hopecore, always making sure I’d keep certain elements I knew people liked, such as fast drums or jazzy solos. How the album was going to be received was always in the back of my mind. When it then actually was received well and people liked the tracks most, where I had experimented the most, I felt encouraged to go all in for hopecore to pursue the sound I really hear. On top of that I had to move on from Wonderful now because I was getting sick of that sonic world.
The term “hopecore” is unique. It fits as one of the few optimistic perspectives we find nowadays on the current state of the world. Could you explain what this term means to you and how it sums up the essence of your album?
Hopecore to me is a description of the sound of the music on that album. The album is an exploration of the melodic and harmonic language I love so much; the kind of lines that keep me making music, regardless of genre. I really tried to get to the heart of what truly moves me and what I want to share with the world. And in the end I just came up with that name that, to me, feels like the way the music sounds.
Your music blends elements of jazz, pop, and electronic. How do you approach the fusion of genres, and what challenges do you face in maintaining a cohesive sound? In other words, what role does spontaneity play in your songwriting process?
I’ve never really worried about maintaining a cohesive sound, that would be really hard. I just make whatever I really feel like making. I grew up in the internet age where genres barely exist anymore so fusing genres is rarely a conscious decision for me.
Something very interesting about this album, and about much of the music being released lately, is how it plays with the public's perception of certain sounds and genres. On your album, for example, frisbee sounds jazzy, but it also has a rhythm that almost seems MIDI-like. In this sense, these elements refer to what people consider elevator music. Was it intentional to refer to this, or is it more of an exploration of sounds?
What sparked my love for jazz was actually commercial 80s jazz fusion and smooth jazz. I do now realise that these genres are usually kind of looked down upon as being cheesy and elevator music-y, but I love that sound regardless and won’t stop making elevator music! I know deep down that everyone has a soft spot for some good elevator or hold music.
hopecore features collaborations with artists such as Hadrien Feraud, Button Masher, and Frederico Heliodoro. How did these collaborations come about, and what did each artist bring to the project?
Almost all of the collaborations on the album started with just an Instagram DM and most of them, in the meantime, have become good real-life friends of mine! I have been lucky enough to even play multiple shows with a number of the hopecore-collaborators like with Hadrien Feraud, Frederico Heliodoro, Jay Verma, King David Ike-Elechi and M Field. Some of the collaborators on the other hand I’ve never met face to face, like ether2006, varra or Button Masher with whom I’ve been working closely nonetheless.
All in all I’m very honoured and happy to be able to say that I’ve been able to pick collaborators for this album that knowingly or unknowingly truly understand what I'm trying to convey with hopecore.
All in all I’m very honoured and happy to be able to say that I’ve been able to pick collaborators for this album that knowingly or unknowingly truly understand what I'm trying to convey with hopecore.
How did your experiences in London, particularly your studies at the Royal Academy of Music, influence the creative process for this album?
Funnily enough, two of the tracks on the album are actually results of composition assignments for the Royal Academy of Music! Other than that the album was created quite separate from my college life. What maybe was reflected in hopecore, however, was a greater appreciation for my time in London. With my upcoming national service in Switzerland, I knew my time here was limited, which made me want to enjoy it to the fullest.
The song All my friends love melodies features collaborations with varra, ether2006 and King David Ike-Elechi. I love this song, it's so conceptual that the title makes perfect sense. How did this song come about? Was important to share this experience with these musicians?
The song was actually always a throwaway beat, which I once sent to a vocalist I really like but in the end nothing really worked for me so I treated it kind of like a non-song where the title explains the over-indulgence in melodies and all guests having their moment on it. Now that I think of it, quite a lot of track titles are actually literal descriptions of the music or the circumstances in which the song was created in.
You sing on little little spider, skydog and Just another step. I wonder what criteria you use to decide whether you will sing on a new song or whether you prefer to have a colleague do it.
Sometimes I have a vocal melody idea while I'm making a track, and I usually record it straight away. These songs are the ones I end up singing as well. Some other times someone else comes to mind and I send it to them instead! It’s a feeling.
Obviously, i've never missed a plane is one of the songs of the year. Sonically, it captures the essence of hopecore, and the video is quite original. You break the time barrier with the styling and the shoes with wheels; it all has a Windows XP feel to it. Are we reading too much into it if we talk about a reflection on late stage capitalism in this song?
You definitely are. All of these components came together by chance. When we were filming the Heely video I hadn’t even decided on which track it was going to be for. But I’m very happy with how the end product feels.
Any funny or memorable moments from the recording sessions that stand out?
Recording M Field Music in M Field’s childhood home in Cape Town was a pretty good moment.
The accordion is central to your music; in fact, you are the main musician who has brought its sound and presence back into modern pop music. How do you use its unique qualities to express emotions and themes in your compositions? Is it challenging?
I’ve been playing accordion since I was a little child so playing my music on it has always been very natural to me. I got super lucky that I picked such a special instrument!
Vacuum Lessons, on the other hand, is a great example of the evolution of jazz and its interference with other musical genres. You worked with Tennyson, Kiefer and daniel hayn on this song, and it seems like a fitting improvement on how jazz can sound in the 21st century. How important is this song in your discography?
This song is important to me because it is a collaboration with Tennyson, an artist that has inspired me from the very beginning and continues to inspire me. It also marks the first success I had with my friend daniel hayn. We had been regularly collaborating online throughout lockdown but Vacuum Lessons was the first track that really got some traction. On the other hand I don’t like my writing from that time and some of the sounds are very reflective of the times too.
I know this is a very broad question, but I would like to know your opinion on jazz today. What role do you think it plays among music listeners? It seems to have found its way into the musical productions of some great artists, but it is still a somewhat niche genre.
Jazz today is really cool because through the internet there is a large new young jazz audience and we have Artists like Thundercat, DOMi and JD BECK, Louis Cole or Jacob Collier, who all have a jazz background and huge audiences!
Your collaboration with M Field on M Field Music introduces a different dynamic to the album. How did this collaboration influence the development of the song? This isn't the first time you've worked together, and from what I see on your social media, I'm guessing you might be working on something else together.
M Field has been a huge if not the biggest influence on the sound of hopecore. Featuring him and openly acknowledging his influence with this track seemed fitting. Initially it was all MIDI bassoons and harmonium, until Matt had the idea of learning the stupidly hard riff on guitar. He played it to me and we both knew it was right. M Field Music is the most recent track on the album and is most indicative of what’s to come. And yes you are right, we have been cooking a lot together and my next record is going to be in collaboration with M Field!
You seem to have been driven by music since you were very young. What does music have that makes your life and work better?
I have the extraordinary privilege to be able to say that music is my life and work!
What are the artists or art pieces (songs, films, paintings, photography) that inspired you during the making of hopecore?
What I was listening to the most during hopecore’s creation was M Field, wokeups, KNOWER, Allan Holdsworth and Oklou.
You’re touring Europe and the UK in April and May next year. How do you bring hopecore to life on stage?
Live in my accordion trio formation. It’s always very fun to find ways to play the songs trio.
And finally, what’s next for Anatole Muster in the near future?
A duo album with M Field is in the making. We are exploring a new sound to both of us, which we are really excited about. It should come out next year.
