There’s seemingly never been a greater degree of freedom in the Western world, and hardly any people wish to take advantage of it. How will they be remembered? The great poets and magicians of the past, as wildly eccentric as they set out to be, are well remembered and, on occasion, still followed. Miss Brevis’s “Abbaye de Thélème” is a modern interpretation of those classic values.
The album focuses much of its energy on the doomed romantics of French poetry. The songwriter has created a council of wise men selected from the beer halls and winding city streets. This litany of characters includes Charles Baudelaire, who was brought to trial for indecency; Arthur Rimbaud, who changed poetry forever before possibly faking his own death; or Francois Villon, whose humour nearly got him hanged before also mysteriously disappearing.
Where do we stand musically? “Introitus” drops into proceedings as if walking into a magical ceremony. It is no coincidence, perhaps, that the album carries the name of the religion established by famed occultist Aleister Crowley.
With our senses freshly shaken, we are then greeted by songs that mix classic, mysterious sounds with modern, fresh tendencies. “Kyrie” features almost trip-hop percussion and vocals reminiscent of Organum polyphonic techniques.
“Gloria” is built on a sweet foundation that brings to mind French pop music of the 1970s, but the resonant vocals have more in common with classical approaches to singing.
There are left turns, too. “Agnus Dei,” for example, makes use of electronic elements that serve as the backdrop for the recited words. And “Benedictus” fits Gregorian chants to glitchy electronica and various sound effects.
It’s an unusual approach that the spiritual patrons of this would most likely approve of. Can you really imagine Charles Baudelaire, a man who had purposely squandered his inheritance during his late teens, dyed his hair green, and wrote poetry about the devil and the Parisian bordellos, listening to Top 40 stations on the radio?
The musician says that this is a plea for tolerance. And, indeed, looking at the lives of the authors chosen to be covered, the album is on the right track. The many eccentricities of the classic writers being honoured here were meant to test the world’s patience with others who’ve chosen a different way of life. A few hundred years later, we are in danger of becoming as narrow-minded as we once were. This is what “Abbaye de Thélème” tries to show.
You can listen to the entire album here!
