Thierry Arnal - Brume

Released: June 10

Consisting of four pieces (or a single piece and several reinterpretations),  Brume is a sonic etching of tuning orchestras and static-filled drones that clash and harmonize with each other in unclear cycles. Or at least the main piece does, if you choose the second interpretation, as I do. It slowly simmers around in the empty space it manifests itself in with an odd aura about it. The primary sound that grounds the composition is that of some type of discordant orchestra that veers into harmony for only the briefest of moments, otherwise leaving a languishing feel about it. The piece starts out with a single string and sees additional timbres slowly build onto it, but none that dare to provide any type of resolution to the tense configuration of tones. It is only at the very end of this nearly fifteen minute long piece that any attempt at resolution is given. Even then it leaves the tension hanging in the air indefinitely, with no true release. 

The three remaining tracks are dubbed as "Brume Reconstruction" and numbered one through three. These pieces take the original piece and reinterpret it in various ways, all of which build upon the tension heard in the original in even more uncomfortable ways. The first of these seeks to tarnish and demolish the softer timbres of the original, crushing the tones in harsh ways that do not fully obscure the original. In a strange way, this crushing bolsters the discordance of the orchestra, amplifying it and bringing it all the way to the foreground. The second reinterpretation scales back the destruction, instead opting to envision the soundscape in way that can be perceived as waves. Each tone is given its own oscillation with some more rapid than others. These waves wash over one another in unpredictable ways, creating the sensation of  water being forced at you from many directions all at once, like a wave pool gone haywire. The final reinterpretation returns to the destructed and crushed, but this time it comes at you as a more of a wall, heaving pressed much of the tonal elements to the side. Regardless of how these interpretations skew, they all maintain that sense of unease and that ever-present tonal tension.