Parts of Lavrador from Canadian sound artist and composer Richard Bégin could be generative. The opening shimmers and wafts over slow-moving bass notes, exploring a defined space with a particular sound palette. But as the album progresses it evolves into an exploration of synth-heavy drone accompanied by rhythmic patterns and hazy elements.
Bégin’s chording and tone are purposely evocative of frozen landscapes sparsely populated with human presence. Inspired by the climes of northern Canada, Lavrador is more than just an ecological statement. Yes, the subject lands exhibit a juxtaposition of beauty and danger that is both fragile and majestic. But the album also is a statement on the isolation and solitude that we all experience from time to time. The so-called “epidemic of loneliness” is about feeling on one’s own even in urban areas – it is a lack of meaningful connection with other human beings regardless of physical proximity.
To that point, a form of musical polysemy is apparent in the album with Bégin exploring stark soundscapes that are carefully adorned with samples and effects. While analogous to its geographic inspiration, the emotional content is conveyed in a minimalistic and subdued manner. Thus, he communicates subtle yet profound feelings of aloneness and detachment in a similar fashion to how these emotions grow incrementally until they are undeniably present.
This psychological grounding can be heard on Temps sidéral moyen, Zurbryger, and Mallory in particular, three shorter tracks that vary between restrained melancholy and more intense passages. Each exhibits electroacoustic percussion of a slightly different character.
Perhaps there is a third meaning to Bégin’s works. We necessarily engage with music alone and on an individual level. While music is largely a social activity for many, deep listening requires time, quietude, and a degree of withdrawal. To fully appreciate Lavrador, one must be willing to undergo an extent of self-imposed sequestration, and doing so closes the circle on the album’s main theme.
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