Yan Wagner Turns “Awake” Into a Dark, Hypnotic Paris Moment

Yan Wagner lets “Awake” stretch out under the lights of La Maroquinerie

Playing one of our favorite Yan Wagner tracks — and already in rotation on INYIM Radio — the French synth-pop mainstay has dropped a new live performance of “Awake” from La Maroquinerie in Paris.

Watch Yan Wagner Perform “Awake” Live at La Maroquinerie, Paris

Recorded during Yan Wagner’s June 17, 2026 concert at La Maroquinerie in Paris, the performance captures “Awake” just one week after the standalone single was released.

The performance comes from Wagner’s June 17, 2026 show at the intimate Paris venue, where he was presenting material from his latest era only one week after “Awake” itself arrived as a new standalone single.

And that distinction is worth making: “Awake” is not a track from Wagner’s 2026 album ÆTHER. The 12-song album landed earlier on April 3 through Yotanka Records; “Awake” followed separately on June 10, almost like an extra late-night transmission extending the same chapter.

“Awake” Arrived After ÆTHER — Not On It

ÆTHER had already established Wagner’s 2026 palette months earlier: electronic pop pushed toward something more tactile, with strings, live drums and warmer organic textures sitting beside the synths. Wagner wrote, composed and produced that album himself, with David Mestre handling recording and mixing and Benjamin Joubert mastering.

“Awake,” released separately on June 10, sits naturally beside that material without simply repeating it. Published track credits identify Yan Wagner as the song’s writer and composer, which fits an artist who has long blurred the roles of singer, songwriter, producer and electronic musician rather than treating them as separate jobs.

And if you’ve been listening to Gesaffelstein’s superb 2024 album GAMMA, you already know just how commanding Wagner can be when handed the microphone. He is the album’s lone vocalist, appearing on six of its 11 tracks, including “Hard Dreams,” “Digital Slaves,” “The Perfect” and “Your Share of the Night.” Frankly, around INYIM we’ve always considered GAMMA almost as much a Yan Wagner album as a Gesaffelstein record — his baritone, lyrics and personality are that fundamental to its sound.

La Maroquinerie Was the Right Room for This Era

Wagner’s June 17 Paris date was staged at La Maroquinerie, the roughly 500-capacity room in the 20th arrondissement that has long worked especially well for electronic artists whose records need a little physical space to become something else live.

The concert had originally been billed as Wagner’s major Paris return for the ÆTHER campaign, with “Synchronised” helping announce the show months earlier. By the time he actually walked onstage, “Awake” had joined the set as a brand-new release — only seven days old.

Images: Yan Wagner — “Awake” live at La Maroquinerie / YouTube.

Why “Awake” Has Stayed in Our Rotation

Wagner has always had that useful contradiction in his music: the production can feel cool, synthetic and meticulously controlled while his low vocal keeps everything human. “Awake” leans into exactly that space, which is why it has been such an easy fit on INYIM Radio alongside the darker corners of synth-pop, indie dance and electronic music.

The live version lets the song breathe differently. Instead of treating the performance as a replica of the single, the room and stage give the track more weight — one of those cases where the live cut does not replace the studio recording so much as explain why the song works.

Sources: Yan Wagner / YouTube; Yotanka Records; Apple Music; La Maroquinerie.