"Soft Octaves" by James Bernard and anthéne
A Sonorous and Hopeful Musical Image of Our Time
James Bernard and anthéne are about to release an album together on Past Inside The Present on November 29th, and one thing is for sure: You can look forward to it! "Soft Octaves" brings you nine wonderfully dreamy tracks to make you think and simultaneously ease your tension. The total of 40 minutes is a nice break from the turbulences of everyday life.
You may remember James Bernard from various ambient projects such as his duo with his wife Cynthia awakened souls, his involvement in "Keep the Orange sun" and his "Polar Night" cooperation with Zakè and Markus Guentner. Like the two, he is part of Kévin Séry's, aka From Overseas, sound collective Past Inside The Present. anthéne, aka Brad Deschamps, is an ambient and drone artist based in Toronto, Ontario, with a considerable back catalogue. If you haven't heard of him yet, go and check it out; you won't regret it!
The harmony we all long for in these times (according to James, the main inspiration for "Soft Octaves" was our "time of uncertainty and hope") lies in the octaves of these beautiful works of sound art. With your headphones on, you can let yourself be carried away to other worlds and discover colourful, imaginative horizons. James Bernard describes it like this:
"That liminal moment, when the phosphorescence behind the window shade first disrupts your eyelids, is a difficult one to pinpoint. Sometimes, the earliest thought in your mind is a long-tail partial memory of those last few moments of a thousand-yard dream; sometimes, it's an irrepressible descending sigh as you anticipate what's to follow, whether with apprehension or ardour. Centuries have passed in your unconscious absence; every frequency is existing somewhere."
Six-string bass and cello meet analogue synths
The composer has been making music for almost 30 years and has worked with various genres and projects, engineering, patch-building and mastering for a wide range of bands and labels. His sound art has become an integral part of his life, and his experience with a wide range of instruments, from the six-string electric bass to the cello and various synths, is constantly growing. You can hear this in his latest work, which he created with anthéne. The six-string, in particular, provides impressive drone sounds and effects. With the help of his volume pedal, he rounded off the corners and gave the whole thing a harmonious glamour. The occasional cello and woodwind elements provide further relaxed highlights.
What is particularly interesting here is that James and Brad recorded each of the pieces in just one take. Nevertheless, everything has found its perfect place—nothing seems overproduced, and the tempo is intuitive and natural.
And Brad's role in "Soft Octaves" is also essential. His lyrical slow-motion melodies and pedal steel guitar add an otherworldly, orchestral sound to the tracks, making the record unique. The head of Polar Seas Recordings likes to enrich his music, which he prefers to create based on field recordings in northern latitudes with analogue synths. You can also experience them in all nine songs on this LP.
In the eponymous sixth track, the two sound talents unveil a curtain that slowly and steadily reveals a panorama flooded with daylight. They have depicted this with organic noise, the reverberation of guitar walls and subtle digital grain. It is impressive how outstandingly they succeed in visualising an image without the help of words.
Contrasts and the dream of harmony
Anyone wondering who the voice in the fourth song, "Trembling House", comes from: It's no other than Cynthia Bernard, aka marine eyes, who I mentioned earlier. With her words, she moulds the thoughts that arise when listening to the track—to let the sound carry them away gently. Btw: She also did the artwork!
Even if the record and its creation are closely linked to a snapshot in time, the pieces on it still seem timeless and create a framework for new ideas and experiences. The notes always resonate with hope for peace, light, and better times.
"Soft Octaves" is a multi-layered, open-minded and artsy piece that reflects the diversity of the world and its contrasts—in a meditative and subliminal way. If you want to get involved in the sound experience, you can now pre-order the album on all music platforms and check out the pre-released single, "Trembling House", below.