L'Emprise (English: Influence) is the twelfth studio album by French recording artist Mylène Farmer, released on 25 November 2022 by Stuffed Monkey.

Described as a return to the darker instrumentation of her earlier records, L'Emprise is a concept album which deals with a person who is under psychological manipulation and breaks free from it.

The album spawned four singles: "À tout jamais", "Rayon vert" featuring French duo AaRON, "Rallumer les étoiles, and the title track "L'Emprise."

[6] In the spring of 2022, media outlets detailed that Farmer was working on a new record with Woodkid and Moby as well as the bands Archive and AaRON.

[14] Jean Blaquière for Sud Ouest noted that the album's release coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, alluding that the lyrics, especially those of the lead single and "L'Emprise," deal with power dynamics in a relationship.

[13] The third song, "Que l'aube est belle," is a ballad that features ornamental orchestration, while its lyrics deal with Farmer's anxieties observing the world.

[13] Exploring the power dynamics of relationships and the darker aspects of human nature, the title track has been compared to lead single "À tout jamais," both sonically and lyrically.

Exploring themes that are characteristic of Farmer's work, the song deals with God, angels and love, and references Guillaume Apollinaire's play The Breasts of Tiresias.

[16] Written by French pop duo, "Rayon vert" is a synth-pop song, in which Farmer and Simon Buret sing about being alone on an asteroid.

The next song, "Que je devienne..." is a Gothic ballad with a complex instrumentation consisting of violins, drums, church bells, and a choir.

[17] Sonically compared to a lament and Bond ballads,[17] Farmer addresses Stefan Zweig, Charles Baudelaire, Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe and sings of becoming their muse.

"[20] The closing track of the standard version of the album, "Bouteille à la mer" is a hopeful uptempo song in which Famer sings of "her thirst to live intensely.

"À tout jamais" served as the lead single on 26 August 2022, with the audio premiering on Farmer's YouTube channel and streaming services on that day.

[13][14][20] Têtu noted that the single marked a return to the "Gothic" soundscape of Farmer's career beginnings and deemed it a break-up song.

Directed by German filmmaker Tobias Gremmler, the video features a 3D-scanned Farmer performing choreographed moves as she is embraced by silhouettes.

The video received positive critical reaction and was favourably compared to the science fiction films Melancholia, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Arrival.

[12] According to Natalie Grosskopf for La Voix du Nord, L'Emprise is Farmer's best body of work since her 1999 album Innamoramento.

[16] In a more mixed review, Jean Blaquière for Sud Ouest commended Farmer's lyrics and the coherence of the album, but noted that L'Emprise lacks really striking songs.

[13] Anne-Sophie Jahn for Le Point praised the complexity of Farmer's lyrics, highlighting that the words deal with "control, adrenaline, desire, the disappearance of self.