Forêt Endormie, Le désespoir utopique, Fiadh Productions, United States, FP210 cassette / vinyl LP (2023)
In an age when, according to current UN estimates, over 110 million people in the world are now displaced from their homes, and over 20 million are refugees, this album from Forêt Endormie is a very timely and welcome release. Formed in 2016 by Jordan Guerette of US black / folk metal band Falls of Rauros, Forêt Endormie is a chamber music ensemble whose range, on this album anyway, stretches from early modern European (Renaissance and onwards) music to modern classical and neo-classical, to avant-garde jazz and electronic trip-hop and ambient. Its French name translating into English as “Utopian Despair”, this release, the third from Forêt Endormie, examines universal human themes of family, childhood, longing, loss and attachment through the motif of relocation, how and why some people relocate through choice or necessity, and how and why others can choose to stay put while there are those who are forced to stay (because of cultural traditions, enslavement or imprisonment among other things perhaps) and cannot leave a situation that puts them in serious danger or causes them trauma.
For the most part the music is elegant and graceful in style though melancholy and wistful in mood. This mood is enhanced by Jordan Guerette’s own singing: he sings as though each song were a lullaby, his unadorned voice gentle and pensive, as it just manages to hold its own against the swirl of violins, woodwinds, double bass, keyboards and occasional unexpected folk percussion. All songs are sung in French despite this not being Guerette’s native language. Though the emotion tends to be much the same across all songs, which can put off some listeners from replaying the album once they’ve heard it right through, the music is actually quite rich in its sounds which vary from one track to the next depending on the combination of instruments used and the genres each track draws from. On some songs the use of organ adds sombre drama and others are enriched with the presence of woodwind instruments like clarinet, bass clarinet and recorder which bring a sense of separation and loneliness to the music.
As the album continues, the music becomes more complex, especially on “Aucun risque, aucune douleur, aucun lien” where the chamber group almost becomes a regular jazz band orchestra. The last couple of tracks “Couvrez les fenêtres” and “L’espoir d’un futur collectif” are especially lush in atmosphere and emotion, and the soundscape becomes three-dimensional in these pieces.
The album’s glories are to be found mainly in the details of the music, blending elements and influences from an eclectic selection of genres to express particular emotions and moods associated with being displaced and longing to find a new home somewhere. Though the album may end on an ambiguous note – not all refugees will find what they long for and some may discover that wherever they stay, no matter how long or how short they stay there, it may never become their “home” – listeners may take some comfort in Guerette’s recognition and attempt to convey the complexities and contradictions involved in the universal search for a place (be it physical, psychological or spiritual) to call one’s own.