Last month we introduced Saisons, the forthcoming debut album from Belgian composer Alice Hebborn on Western Vinyl. “Created following a move to the countryside, the record draws inspiration from theories of ecofeminism and environmental harmony and presents a world cast volatile and disordered in the wake of human impacts, we wrote. “Across seven movements, built of piano and electronics, Hebborn imagines a different future. One in which humans cease to throw the natural balance and instead become a key link in a harmonious web of reciprocal relationships.” The sound recapitulates such a system, one built of tiny, interdependent details which come to form something larger. An ecosystem of sound. As Hebborn herself puts it: “Through Saisons, I explore the idea of an ideal where humans live in harmony with nature. I wanted the album to mirror how nature functions: all elements influencing and transforming one another in an interconnected, balanced way.”
Latest single ‘Mouvement 6’ embodies the sense of peace which emerges through such an ideal. A track “inspired by the joy revealed by the abundant strength of nature,” as Hebborn puts it, “when all life unites in a swirling movement carried by the continuous flow of the river.” Dappled with bright arpeggios and patient in its execution, the song is intercut with field recordings to further anchor its connection to the environment, building through layers of texture and detail as though pushing deeper into the ecosystem it has created. The climax could therefore be construed as having reached the centre of this network. A place of total connection that registers as an all-encompassing peace.
Album cover by Letizia Le Fur, photo by Lara Gasparotto