Music for a While Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle 2018

There is a video about this fragrance that tells us a story about the creation of 'Music for a while': two older gentlemen share how they developed the scent together. In contrast to the text with which the fragrance is ultimately promoted on the website and the packaging, this video is indeed enlightening.
The starting point was: we are designing a lavender scent.
And indeed, there is a lack of a lavender fragrance in the Editions de Parfums portfolio. Lavender is quite popular again - Tom Ford is releasing one lavender scent after another, Chanel has launched the wonderful 'Boy', Bogue the highly praised 'Mem', and wherever you look, lavender fragrances are popping up.
Nothing against that, I love lavender!
This one is truly special - a kind of 'lavender-fruitychouli'.

But back to Carlos and Frédéric: lavender was to be at the center of the fragrance, supported by a base of patchouli, vanilla, and labdanum, and introduced by a citrus cocktail of mandarin, bergamot, and lemon - the roadmap was drafted.
So far, so good, so unmodern.
How to breathe modernity into this rather classically structured fragrance?
Et voilà: the pineapple.
Creed’s Aventus sends its regards. And the incredible success of this fragrance has surely astonished the gentlemen of Editions de Parfums.

Said and done, and the added pineapple note now boldly takes center stage in 'Music for a while', competing with the no less bold lavender for dominance.
When I looked at the notes pyramid over a year ago, on the occasion of this fragrance's launch, it was precisely this pineapple note that kept me from even testing it. I was so sure that I wouldn’t like this new Malle.
I was wrong.

Out of boredom, I finally tested it, and I must say: Wow, what an exciting, contrasting, and thrilling fragrance!
It probably would have pleased me even without the pineapple note, but I must admit that it is indeed this note that gives the fragrance its certain something, its special kick. I really didn’t expect that!
The herbal-spicy lavender actually doesn’t harmonize at all with the fruity-sweet pineapple. But somehow it does. Just like one eats strawberries with pepper, or pineapple with fresh mint - apparent disharmonies invigorate the whole.
So it is here. The antipodes of pineapple/lavender indeed give the fragrance an inner tension that is fantastic, but it may also overwhelm some people.
This explains the strong resistance that this fragrance sometimes faces, while many find it absolutely wonderful. A fragrance that polarizes. Interestingly, however, not because of its supposed animalistic qualities, which often divide opinions on many fragrances, no, simply because this inner tension is exhausting, perhaps even too exhausting. Meanwhile, the sweetness of the pineapple softens the herbal sharpness of the lavender, while this herbaceous quality prevents the fragrance from tipping into overly sweet, syrupy territory.
Thus, 'Music for a while' is truly not a nose-pleaser, not a gourmand lavender dessert in an all-masking cashmeran sauce, and - thank God - also not a lavender-ambroxan booster for gym-goers.
No, this fragrance does not flatter, and it does not cuddle - it demands.
It demands right from the start, when its two main notes bloom incredibly intensely. Strangely, I initially only smelled pineapple, while the lady in the perfumery said she only perceived lavender. When she mentioned the lavender, it was - bam - there for me too. What a Janus-faced fragrance!!

Now it is such that I actually do smell lavender first - lavender 'brut', so to speak, really bold and untamed, with all its spicy nuances. Far removed from the polished elegance and softness of Caron’s lavender. But shortly thereafter, the herb-fruity aromas of the pineapple penetrate the previously almost arrogantly dominant lavender.
The already mentioned citrus trio plays only a minor role here, but not an unimportant one, as it forms a kind of link between the fiercely conflicting protagonists.

Strangely, 'Music for a while' reminded me right after the first spray of a completely differently categorized fragrance: 'Mitsouko'. Here too is the contrast of ripe, yellow-fleshed peach on one hand and a bitter-mossy chypre background on the other. In 'Music for a while', it is indeed the pineapple that challenges the two fougère players lavender and coumarin (also a component of the fragrance!), but also a dominant fruity accord that contrasts with a bitter-herbaceous note.
Perhaps therefore the classification as lavender-fruitychouli is not entirely correct, and I should rather call the fragrance a fruity-oriental fougère. But no matter how you turn it, the fragrance remains hard to grasp - indeed a Janus-faced fragrance, which you can never look into both pairs of eyes at the same time, no matter how hard you try...

As for the name of the fragrance: yes, there is indeed music in it. But not the music of Erik Satie that underscores the video. Much too harmonious and soothing it flows along. No, rather music from the sound cosmos of Arnold Schönberg: exciting, atonal, and thrilling.

Regarding the description of the fragrance on the website and packaging: simply nonsense.
With the best will, I do not associate this fragrance with a woman's back, whose slipping fur reveals bare shoulders. That’s what the two older gentlemen would probably like!
No, much more I see here a freshly barbered hipster enjoying a pineapple - the fragrance is quite masculine, to say the least: very masculine.
Longevity and projection are - and this is truly noteworthy - simply sensational! I once made the mistake of spraying two sprays of 'Music for a while' on top of each other, as I often do with fragrances that are not particularly long-lasting. In this case, however, the effect is devastating. The fragrance has an incredible potency and should therefore be used sparingly. A glance at the bottle also reveals why: it is indeed a 'Parfum'. Not an 'Eau de Parfum' like 'Musc Ravageur' and not an 'Eau de Toilette' like 'Bigarade Concentrée' - no. Unambiguously, 'Parfum' is written on it, and I believe Frédéric Malle is not lying.
This concentration of fragrance also fits with the fact that 'Music for a while' has a very dense texture - the fragrance is strong and heavy, like a thick carpet. Fortunately, the proportion of fragrance components is manageable, so that despite all its heaviness and density, the fragrance does not come across as overloaded.

One last word: magnificent!