The Vancouverite Robyn Jacob is a beautiful example of identity fluidity in the world of contemporary music. She achieved her first media successes with the avant-pop band Only a Visitor, and then later with Gamelan Bike Bike, a post-gamelan fusion group. New Forevers is a debut album of “serious” compositions, translation: contemporary classical.
Here, it mainly involves chamber music creations for percussion, with a few appearances of an alto and voice. The initial work is a diptych titled Portals. The first, The Offing, is granular and builds slowly to become more minimalist in terms of rhythm and repetition, while the second part, The Verge, adds an alto to the already present percussion in an evolving sound structure. It begins in an ultra-bare atmosphere, like a tinnitus induced by long sustained notes (viola) accompanied by delicate percussive tinklings, but also by keyboards (marimba, xylophone?) rubbed with the bow. Toward the middle of the movement, the viola becomes more lyrical, singing. Then, a return to the initial temperament with a fuller, more robust sound wave. Very very zen.
Most of Robyn Jacob’s compositions are inspired by contemporary environmentalism. This is the case with Portals, which seems to oscillate between concern and hope. The next piece, the one that bears the title of the album, New Forevers, is even more explicit. The reference to the source of the work is the concept of “perpetual care” from the First Nations. The idea is to develop a vision for the development of a natural space that can align with maintaining its health and long-term viability. Jacob takes the opportunity to denounce the consequences of the activities of a gold mine near Yellowknife (Northwest Territories). 237,000 tons of arsenic trioxide, the residue from drilling, are kept frozen more than 75 meters underground. A “perpetual care” plan is being developed by the Dene First Nation of the region to prevent contaminants from poisoning the environment one day.
The music emerges gently in a dark atmosphere, gradually rising toward a defined brightness. On top of that, spoken word or sung texts repeat information such as “237,000 tons,” “ten thousand generations” (before the pollutants dissolve), “75 meters underground,” “Dust,” “Water,” “Arsenic,” “Enough to kill the world twice,” etc. The piece is a powerful indictment against the shameless exploitation of the environment by multinationals, who cause damage without facing the consequences. Although it is not my favorite in the program, it remains quite striking.
Pith is a short five-minute piece for solo vibraphone, superbly performed by Alexander Haupt from the Montreal collective Architek Percussion. The composer manages to generate astonishing sounds from this instrument, including atonal and muffled bursts, as if the instrument were made of wood. Add to that strongly marked nuances, going crescendo and decrescendo, and you have here an ideal concert piece to impress without boring.
Collective Ungraspable is a substantial piece of approximately 16 minutes. It is constructed with infinite subtlety, thanks to microscopic textures of millimetric finesse. The American ensemble So Percussion rises to the intricate task, bringing this ultra-delicate universe to life, which forces music lovers to listen attentively so as not to miss any of the unfolding sound rustle. The snare drum is used with particular detail and dexterity.
The album concludes with the piece Transference and Zoosemiotics. Cowbells, tuned to different pitches, and woodblocks trace complex lines that intertwine in a post-minimalist energy, before gently transmitting their softly trembling energy to the vibraphone, supported by the distant rumble of the bass drum. Very poetic and even enchanting.
The Montreal-based Architek Percussion and its soloists are the main performers of this often graceful music, and they are very good. Hats off, also, to Marilou LePage on the viola and the SHHH!! piano/percussion duo.
Robyn Jacob knows how to build evocative plots, imbued with beauty and a narrative strength that is as ingenious as it is captivating.
