Every catastrophe ironically stimulates artistic creativity. The political and humanitarian wounds that have been afflicting the SWANA region (South West Asia and North Africa) for decades, currently exacerbated by new tragedies, have this effect on two inspired creators, Montrealer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and Frenchman Frédéric D. Oberland. The result, surprisingly enchanting, is called Eternal Life No End.
The title, cryptic in its English version, is much more expressive in Arabic (“A dark and cursed night, like the searchers themselves”). In this latter version, one is easily and quickly immersed in strong images whose symbolism becomes powerful.
The two artists gathered in studios in Montreal and Paris to create a 21st-century Orientalist painting, without clichés, without languorous odalisques, without naive colonialism. Rather, a recourse to the tools of colonial modernity, but in an authentic approach, a return to spiritual roots, dressed in contemporaneity, of a vast territory inhabited by cultural memories that fade into the mists of time.
From the very first track, our ears and emotions are enveloped in hypnotic sounds, made up of electronic sound waves, and acoustic and pointillist embellishments on the rabab, bouzouki, bells, saxophone, and clarineau (an instrument that evokes a blend of clarinet and duduk).
It continues against a backdrop of strong, sometimes heavy rhythms, or even floating atmospheres that evade the pulse. But it is always irresistibly tinged with mystery and deep-rooted connections in the timeless psyche of a geography imbued with the civilisations that have unfolded there. If you have ever liked Dead Can Dance, or if you still do and if you love the mix of world trance, post-rock, dark-folk, and contemporary impressionism, you will find great satisfaction here.
A musical and spiritual journey that keeps us in a state of dreamlike wakefulness, between weightlessness and solid ground.
Radwan Ghazi Moumneh: Vocals, bouzouki, rabab, synthesisers, drum machines, percussion
Frédéric D. Oberland: Buchla and modular systems, drum machines, synthesisers, alto saxophone, clarinet, bells
