A Closer Listen
Vangola brings back pleasant memories of French label Prikosnovénie, in multiple aspects from Hanna Svirska‘s fairy tale aesthetic to Sana Shahmuradova’s folklorish cover art. The project is released on Kyiv’s Standard Deviation, who also released last year’s superlative compilation From Ukraine, For Ukraine. While Svirska was featured on that project (with an ambient version of “Inner”), Yangola is a showcase for her skills. The EP tells a valuable story, a parable of encouragement to a people in crisis.
One of the most interesting press quotes is that the Ukrainian word yangola “stands for an imagined musical genre.” The timbre is slippery, as the music has the feel of ambience, the narrative of folk and a vocal delivery that with Seréen touches on opera. And then there’s that Aho Ssan remix, a left-field surprise that contributes tinges of drone and electronics. Suffice it to say that the EP flows like an unsettling dream.
Yangola‘s literal definition is “angel,” and this particular angel is elusive, appearing only in spring. People who seek this angel often get lost in time and space. But once they see the angel’s light, the Black Beast turns to ashes and the land is renewed. It doesn’t take much to see a modern parallel; the aggressor nation is the Black Beast, while Svirska’s people are looking for the angel. Some have given up, while others have lost their way; yet even more still believe in spring, and will never stop searching and fighting.
The fragments of Ukrainian folksong in “Vesnianka” (“Spring Song”) ground the EP in ancestral history: struggle and triumph. The existence of so much history before speaks to the promise of history to come, no matter the current circumstance. In a word: persevere. A watery sound runs through the track like a river of time. Then the antagonist, the “Chornyi Zvir” appears to challenge the angel, to disrupt the seasons. Gunfire sounds in the distance, an intimidating intrusion. Are the flowers not preparing to sprout? Are the birds not practicing their song? In the dark remix, machinery winds like spikes and chains.
Closer “Zakryi Ochi” (“Close Your Eyes”) is the album’s brightest track, with chimes ringing on the edges and an insistent piano motif. Even so, it’s only the beginning of light, the first glimpse, the moment the tide seems to turn. If one closes one’s eyes, one may see the ancestors dancing like Shahmuradova’s watercolors. The world yearns for this mark to be reached. Hanna Svirska’s music says, believe. (Richard Allen)
Tue May 30 00:01:01 GMT 2023