Kiss the Beast is the eighth studio album by French musician Sébastien Tellier. It was released on 30 January 2026 by Because Music and Horizons, and marks his first album in five years, after Domesticated (2020), and his first album with Because Music. The album features guest appearances from Nile Rodgers, Kid Cudi, and Slayyyter, with production handled by Tellier, Oscar Holter, Sebastian, Victor Le Masne, and Daniel Stricker.
The lead single from the album, "Refresh", was released on 3 September 2025, which marked his first single in five years after the release of his seventh album, Domesticated (2020). Over a month later, on 8 October, he officially announced his eighth album, titled Kiss the Beast, along with the release of the album's second single, "Naïf de Coeur".
The third single, "Thrill of the Night", was released on 21 November 2025, and features Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers and singer-songwriter Slayyyter. On 6 January 2026, Tellier performed the song "Parfum Diamant" on the Colors YouTube channel, which would then become the fourth single from the album, released on 16 January. The fifth and final single, "Amnesia", which features rapper and singer Kid Cudi, was released on 28 January, two days before the album's release. The album was officially released on 30 January 2026.
In the album's announcement, Tellier states, "This album is the literal description of the music that plays within me. A music crossed by my dualities: the wolf and the sheep, strength and fragility, dream and nightmare. Lost between illusions and truths, my inner life isnâÂÂt based on reality, but on a succession of impressions and suppositions." He continues, "I wanted to make an album that felt monumental, maximalist. A record thatâÂÂs free, instinctive, guided simply by the pleasure of making music."
The album received mixed reviews upon release. In a positive review, Heather Phares of AllMusic says, "Not all of Kiss the Beast's risks pay off, but by letting his creativity run wild, Tellier defies the expectations of anyone who thinks they know his music inside and out." In a more positive review, Will Hodgkinson, Chief Rock and Pop Critic for The Times, admits that "although there is nothing here to match Tellier's 2004 symphonic masterpiece "La Ritournelle", there is a spirit of wide-eyed adventurousness â and a touch of the ridiculous â to it all." In a more negative review, Lauren Hunter of Far Out Magazine says the reason for the low rating is not the "language barrier", but rather "the album feels so haphazard, so bizarre, so deranged that the lack of verbal comprehension becomes the least of your worries."
Credits adapted from Tidal.