anthène - Frailty

A Closer Listen

To many, the notion of frailty will immediately evoke sorrow, suggesting something diminished, a back bent toward the drawing down of a life. But its richness of meaning can also unfurl as layers of quiet joy: the subtle triumph of a fragile flower in bloom, perhaps, or the tenderness of a caring hand outstretched. This latter sense of delicate beauty animates frailty, the latest from Toronto-based ambient composer Brad Deschamps’ work as anthène, issued in March by Brighton’s Home Normal label. 

Atop serene washes of processed guitar, Deschamps layers simple melodic flourishes and impressionistic field recordings, effecting textured and grainy soundscapes that reverberate with humanity and emotion. A prolific creator, his Bandcamp footprint boasts dozens of releases stretching back nearly a decade. And though this formal approach may at first glance feel familiar to many readers – clear reference might be made to Loscil, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Stars of the Lid – there’s an organicism in the work that sets anthène apart from so much in the ambient field. 

Across the album’s seven tracks, waves of gentle melody lap against a hazy shore, slow motions describing the dewy stillness of the coastal morning depicted by the cover artwork, or the shifting greys of a cloudy spring sky. On “in media res,” a warbling lead figure twinkles from within sublime clouds of cavernous reverb alongside snatches of bird song, while a more recognizably organic picked guitar pattern emerges from the wide-screen atmospherics of “faiblesse.” A pensive melodic drone on “mapping out the memories” envelopes ribbons of slide-guitar that seem to wave from a distance. “ghost march” takes the album to its climax, as haunting spectral voices call from within a mounting wave of static. 

It’s a contemplative and melancholy journey, of course, but there’s little here to suggest darkness or doom. Instead, the tone poems on frailty convey the kind of warmth and generosity that come from reflection and acceptance, profoundly peaceful and calming yet possessed of enough tactile vitality to keep the focused listener engaged throughout the album’s brief 36 minutes. (Graham Lathan)