Xu & Francis Gri - Valley of Languages

A Closer Listen

Bringing together the creative efforts of Italian composers Nicola Fornasari (Xu) and Francis Gri, Valley of Languages presents a way of thinking about music as an art form.  The artists design space through the use of sound instead of only perceiving it as an art of time. This collaborative release functions as a meeting place for two artists that do not really know each other in person.  As such, the album opens the possibility for their sound to be expansive and for their music to reverberate with a volume occupied and navigated by bodies miles away. 

The sonic dialogue gradually transforms into an aural sculpture, as if phonemes were reshaped without caring for any meaning, instead looking for harmonies within their textures and combinations. A soft, insistent melody emerges in the opening track, only to quickly be elongated by the use of synthesizers.  Each note becomes a reverberation that encounters its own beginning when looped; a singular phrase turns inside out and settles down as a sonic monolith.

Sometimes Valley of Languages opens just enough room for silence to sneak in, although it is not an uncanny experience; instead it is an opportunity to gather the unheard and become aware of what sound has become. “Faint Wall” points to the importance of listening, as its subtle sounds travel across space, bringing together resonances that fade into each other.  The track comes off as an eavesdropping scene, where the desire to hear what’s on the other side surpasses any physical boundary. This allows for music to be an interstice, a ground for interaction in which opposing air currents start moving side by side.  Their sonic layers keep expanding; they stack on top of each other until they blend into a mountain of sound, a vast volume that flows in its own place, as solid as it is evanescent.

Xu & Francis Gri have become well aware of the fact that music grants them the ability to play transformative games with time and space. Their mutual perception of ambience disposes of time, remaining still, yet not exactly suspended; echoes linger on howling winds, creating a space for musical reminiscences and sonic apparitions. “Untied” is a demonstration of their curiosity, an instant unfolding into several different pieces, broken down into small glimmers of sound that, although brief, gather into a whole and create a new and ever-changing atmosphere. Eventually the transient starts to feel familiar, as what felt like fleeting moments turn out to be everlasting aural formations. 

In “Misty Words,” Valley of Language’s shapeshifting and constructive soundscape starts stabilizing and comes to a close.  Wind and sound thicken, covering perception until one fades away into a foggy blur. (Gilberto Cárdenas)