Braulio Lam

Good morning, and welcome to another Friday. I’m taking a very short break from the publication of my Best of the Year selections and will be back early next week with the final three lists. It has been a bit gruelling and somewhat stressful on me (I feel like there is monumental pressure to pick out the right ones, of course), so it’s a great pleasure to take a deep breath and return to the regularly scheduled programming, especially when I have a gorgeous piece to share with you today! More than a track, I’ve got a video! – which is especially rare for me to highlight. I’ve said this before, and I’ll dare to repeat – the visual part must have something to add. There’s plenty to hear of the story in sound, and thus, its cinematographic counterpart should only enhance what has been captured and what has been said. This is indeed the case with Braulio Lam‘s Claroscuro, which is scheduled to come out on February 2nd, via Yann Novak’s Dragon’s Eye Recordings. These minimal drones reflect the “painterly hues and contrasting shadows of the golden hour in October” as a long-playing ode to the “observation of natural light and its effects on our emotions“. I suppose the synergy of sound and light is only perfected when the artist is the composer, the photographer, and the director of the entire piece. Further emotions are portrayed by Francia Gutiérrez, while the sonics are lovingly mastered by Lawrence English. A gentle beginning to my busy day…

In regards of the visual aspect of the project, it took me two months to film the entire video. I did my research for the locations and tried to capture the magic hours to avoid artificial light. At the same time, I was looking to that specific color palette. Golden vintage look.
 
I’ve have seen movies with that particular mood, for example Krzysztof Kielowski’s “The Double Life Of Veronique” or “Amélie” by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Those films have that particular color grading. Above all, creates a genuine aesthetic that inspired me for this work, visually speaking.
 
There is another quote from Sven Nykvist that says “There is nothing that can ruin an atmosphere so easily as too much light.”

— Braulio Lam

Once again, the full album is out February 2, 2024. You can pre-order it now directly via the artist’s Bandcamp or read more about it on Dragon’s Eye.