In 2001, the band released a 4-track demo tape entitled Tristesse hivernale on Drakkar Productions in which Aegnor wrote the main riff of the song "La Forêt de Cristal".

[8] Neige, having originally formed Alcest as an outlet to create cold and raw black metal, moved away from the minimalist approach with the follow-up to Tristesse Hivernale, entitled Le secret.

After having signed to Prophecy Productions in March 2007,[9] Alcest's debut studio album Souvenirs d'un autre monde was released in early August of the same year,[10] and drew comparisons with the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Jesu.

[8][11][12] According to Pitchfork's Brandon Stosuy, the album "isn't black metal at all", and compared it to "a lighter take on Jesu shoegazing".

[13] In August 2007, Tristesse hivernale was released by Northern Silence Productions as a split with French black metal band Angmar.

It was a highly anticipated album and was received with generally positive reviews from music critics, with AllMusic's Ned Raggett writing that the album "makes the most of its compelling fusion of black metal's theatricality and the after-echoes of shoegaze's propensity for utterly enveloping a listener, even if bandleader Neige approached that sound unconsciously at first.

It features Birgir Jón Birgisson as producer, Amiina for the string sections, and a guest appearance by Neil Halstead.

[17] Neige has said the album is heavily inspired by Japanese art and culture, as well as Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke.

[18] They announced on 25 June 2019 that the album would be called Spiritual Instinct and would be released on 25 October of that same year;[19] Neige stated that its the recording "has been a long and challenging process.

Neige decided to use that name because of its "ethereal" sound and its representation of the project's concept; he removed the second "e" to differentiate the band from the play.