UNKW SOUNDS : EVENING HYMNS, contemplative legends
There are artists who are able to magnify their casualness by making it a beautiful, comforting and imperturbable strength. A casualness where everyone benefits. In Evening Hymns, we find Jonas Bonnetta who recites in his native Ontario tongue, the kinds of incantations that release blessings instead of spells.
It is therefore not surprising that Kütu Folk, the authentic and handmade record label based in Clermont-Ferrand, has secured this dear Jonas. Accompanied by his sidekick Sylvie Smith, this hedonistic module delivers to us a voice so delicate like the fresh mountain air and the creaking sound in the snow, a sensation of smoke from a bonfire, the warmth of a blanket and the smell of pine… everything needed for the perfect excuse to hide in the woods.
Recorded in the monastic tradition of folk (like Bon Iver), most of the titles were created in a wooden hut, isolated and rough, where up-and-comings (The Wooden Sky, Forest City Lovers) came to fortify their musical spectral frame. The beautiful “Spirit Guides” and “Spectral Dusk” releases and an almost schizophrenic eclectic sound. A delirious diffusion can be seen between the frenzy of the percussion and guitar tensions (Broken Rifle, Dead Deer, Cabin In The Burn) ; and the beautiful bitterness of the ballads(Song To Sleep To, History Books) which in the end soars up with Irving Lake Access Road, a sublime 9 minute lyrical rapture.
Evening Hymns is a wholly spiritual experience. Everything is mental and elusive.