wintersong
 

benjamin berton jannuary 2017

"Melancholy is an illness we love to cultivate in every season. But it goes without saying that winter is perhaps the most capable of amplifying that languor and warm paralysis of the soul produced by the feeling of being abandoned or having lost something. Bringing together (in a still clumsy) “two-in-one” the albums by Dakota Suite & Quentin Sirjacq and by Marc Morvan is an easy shortcut, but one we allow ourselves here because these two little treasures reached us almost at the same time and, in quite different styles, seemed to speak the same language: that of nostalgic hearts, wide open spaces, and lost worlds.

Dakota Suite needs no introduction, having stood for years (decades, almost) as a universal benchmark of desolation. There was a time when Chris Hooson was considered one of the high priests of slowcore, alongside Idaho or Low. Today, the Englishman continues the work begun in 2010 (with the album Valissa), together with the French pianist Quentin Sirjacq—his long-time partner—for a live piano/voice album that splendidly and starkly revisits some of the finest pieces in his repertoire. Released on a Japanese label, Wintersong (winter, of course) documents a joint tour the two musicians undertook in Japan in 2015, during which these tracks were recorded. The result is breathtaking in elegance and refinement. Chris Hooson’s voice, fragile and slender, works like a muted trumpet, conversing both with Sirjacq’s minimalist (yet not unromantic) piano and with the many silences, which seem to act as full-fledged characters in this ensemble. The interplay between the two (the three, if we include silence) rests on a tightrope act nourished by everything that passes through the air: a voice bracing itself, a vibrating string, a breath, a (throat) cat creeping by. The sublime tracks are reinvented here through a technique that most often consists in not playing one note higher than another, privileging half-tones and subtlety rather than any special effect or excess. One must grow accustomed to this aesthetic of abstention and restraint, to this way of crafting poetry and music with blunted foils. But how beautiful the reward is, how gratifying the experience becomes when it reveals pieces like the stirring Close Enough To Tears, previously known in its “illuminated” version and here shining, like the jewel it is, in all its stripped-down grace. All That I Can Hold Near is elevated by Sirjacq’s playing, filled with sadness and nostalgia, imposing himself—solo or in collaborations—as one of the most beautiful pop pianists in history. Paradoxically (and while many tend to find Dakota Suite’s music rather understated), Sirjacq’s melancholic interpretation draws most of the tracks into his own universe, making the whole float in a homogeneous, ethereal “spiritual liquid.” Sirjacq embodies movement without a trace of groove; he produces wavering and tremor without the usual means to do so: that is the miracle of his playing.

What could pass as a weakness (a kind of formal unity, a quiet monotony) becomes, with repeated listening, a true strength. Around extraordinary pieces such as Last Flare From A Desperate Shipwreck (more than 7 stunning minutes) or How Safe We Must Be, the duo manages to create a bubble of peace and emotion that draws the listener in and lifts them toward a state of serenity and self-awareness that is infinitely comforting. Seekers of intense emotion may not find what they’re looking for, but those who like being lulled to sleep, held in tender arms, and lingering in golden socks before the fireplace will never tire of it. Wintersong is more than a dream record for winter—it is an entire season melting over you. You can feel the sleet beneath the ivory, the snow under the vocal cords, and the rain teasing the score. As long as there are records of this calibre, there will be years worth turning and seasons worth living."

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recorded on a japan tour in 2016

vocals: chris hooson

piano: quentin sirjacq

music by dakota suite

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recorded by hiro higuchi

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schole records