Reflections Vol. 3: Water Poems

Description

In Reflections Vol. 3: Water Poems, Félicia Atkinson and Christina Vantzou draw on their friendship and atmospheric artistry to create an almost ceremonial work. Their spoken word and talent for orchestration intermingle like tributaries to form a single river, giving birth to a collection of songs and dreamlike soundscapes, rooted in the sea, sky, and rock. Through electroacoustic instruments, their voices, and environmental sounds, Water Poems invites the listener into a subconscious space, between the intimacy of daily life and the oceanic enigma from which all life springs. Since 2009, Atkinson and Vantzou have collaborated intermittently, but a concert in 2019 at the Philharmonie de Paris gave new impetus to their joint project. Now living on the coast (Félicia near the English Channel, Christina near the Mediterranean), the sea has become their muse. Voices, breath, and aquatic textures permeate the maritime mystery of Water Poems, though what began with close-miked voices and field recordings has been enriched with synthesizers, gongs and metallophones, piano, vibraphone, Rhodes, guitars, and Mellotron. Evoking our geological heritage, Water Poems calls for the protection of coastlines and a deepening of our relationship with them: a portion of the album's proceeds will be donated to Arion, a non-profit conservation program for the Greek Mediterranean Sea. Water Poems was recorded at The Old Carpet Factory, an 18th-century residence on the Greek island of Hydra, at the 16th-century Villa Medici in Rome, and at Les Dunes, Atkinson's personal studio in Normandy. More than the historical prestige of these locations, it is the palpable history of their landscapes that shaped the music. Atkinson explains that they were drawn to "places with a strange magnetism." Water Poems echoes the words of marine biologist Rachel Carson: "To stand at the edge of the sea… is to have a sense of things almost as eternal as earthly life can be." The album ritually celebrates this oceanic sensation as a vital source of serenity and intelligence. In a world ravaged by sharp opinions and ecological neglect, Water Poems offers us a space to reconnect with our primal and animal instincts and to connect with deeper currents.