The hyphenation of attracted opposites
Golden Hyphen is the latest album by Nehoryn, accompanied by a lovely printable booklet that contains the song lyrics and images eloquently illustrating the artist's universe, from the deft confrontation of colour with black & white to the touches of light bursting through the dominant darkness.
The very first track, Winter Sky, is "dissonantly" melodic in a soul-touching way, while the lyrics convey the mixture of sensitivity and sarcasm characteristic of Nehoryn. Rather than standing out, the vocals blend smoothly into the instrumental arrangement, enhancing the atmospheric ambience of the song. The winter cold is softened by the warmth of a human touch, the often painful process of introspection leads to self-recognition and reconciliation with one's internal "mirror", as well as to the acknowledgement of one's place in the world - even if the perceived duality may in fact be illusive or hallucinatory, born from the soul-deep desire of a solitary being in despair.
The Hidden Place describes a sexual encounter in excessive, almost devastating cynicism which, in essence, expresses the pressing need to escape from the cruelty of life; the last line of the song reveals the secret of the "magic place" sought through the raw absoluteness of passion. TAZ feat. MaryPoppinS constitutes a vigorously rhytmic homage to Hakim Bey's philosophical concept of "anarchist ontology"; Eternity combines the soothing melodiousness of its introduction and ending with the unsettlingly distorted vocals and repetitive "background" theme in the heart of the song.
Golden Hyphen is a solemn promise of love made in whispered vocals, backed by an almost epic melody. Dissociation honors its title with a dominant theme of imposing and persisting force; Mama conveys the feeling of being lost, confused and defenseless in a hostile world. The purely beautiful interlude Le Souffle des Anges leads to Lady J. Seberg, a solemn instrumental dedicated to the short but tempestuous life and tragic death of American actress Jean Seberg, while the crushing statement made by The Dream via the juxtaposition of the two featured, ideologically opposed "prototype" figures, John Wayne and Martin Luther King, is immediately followed by the moving but also assuaging epilogue by the title of Tears, a brief instrumental full of tenderness.
Although this album basically displays most of Nehoryn's fundamental characteristics, there is actually a tinge of something different, a kind of musical and emotive flavour unprecedented in the artist's already unique style - an obvious mark of evolution and an even more pointed tendency to experiment. It was a fascinating auditory experience and a real pleasure to welcome this new year with some of the best, most original music I had the chance to listen to recently.
NOTE: This album is no longer available on Jamendo, but may still be freely downloadable from The Jamendo Albums Collection @ Archive.org.
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