Still quite young, this French composer, of whom I reviewed a couple of worksbefore (see Vital Weekly 953 and 1001) and of whom I don't know much else.He creates music, installations, photography and film work; that's what I learnedfrom his website. His previous releases were released by the French Kaon label,but this one is on Unfathomless, known for their work with field recordings and inthis case, it is all about the 25th April Bridge in Lisbon. I am not sure howJehanne works, what kind of technology is at his disposal but my best guesswould be that following the recording 'in the field', there follows an extendedtime on the computer for further transformation of the material. That is, of course,if Jehanne is using the strangest angles and microphone technology to tapehis sounds and that all the transformation takes place in the actual processof laying the sounds on the recorder. Still, there is a moment in which theserecordings are collaged together as that is something that I'm certain of thathappens. The level of processing isn't that far off what could also be a naturalrecording; keeping it close to the original but with a whim of strangenessattached to it. In the forty-five minutes of this piece Jehanne shifts betweenwith great care between all the different approaches to the sounds. From relativequietness to something that is sonically more charged, albeit it never becomestoo noisy. It is all done with some keen ear for pacing; a fine flow of soundshappens and it tells a story, even when that is an abstract one. It is about men,nature and architecture; about taping events from a place, empty surroundingsbut also cars passing and a herd of football fans crossing the bridge and chanting.At least that's what I believe to hear. It is good, it's solid and perhaps somewhatunsurprising also; something radically new doesn't happen. That may not alwaysbe necessary of course.
Vital Weekly, 2020