J. Doursou

Waking up on a Monday morning in my comfortable and humble quarters, it’s easy to prepare for the week to come. It’s easy to forget that in some places right now, atrocities continue to take place. If you’ve been following my musings for nearly two decades, you know that I rarely take a political stance. Of course, I have outlooks and positions, but I tend to steer clear of those on this platform alone. But when, on February 24th of 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, I couldn’t stay silent. In my solo piano piece “Incoming“, I tried to capture those feelings, blending the inevitable anguish with heartache within. This powerful emotion is echoed in a track I’m premiering for you today, titled “Song For Elena”, written by J. Doursou, a French composer with an upcoming album, The Deafening Veil, due out on April 6th via First Light Records. The music on the album conveys the anxiety of the inescapable horrors and the dread of helplessness from being far away. All of this is stated through the captivating melodies, painted over with beautiful distortion and non-verbal agony, so wonderfully mastered here by the one and only Lawrence English. This is the sound “wrought out through oppressive walls of electronic noise, punctured – as conflict is – by hopeful melody.” If only we could wake with purpose. If only music saved this world.

Paralysed by the twin bind of geographic distance and emotional proximity, Doursou began to create what would later be named ‘Song for Elena’. In setting his anxiety down in music, Doursou found himself pulling at a thread that connected him and his family to other histories of violent conflict in Eastern Europe. In turning to face these histories, he was struck by the tendency of so many in the West to move through life untouched by the immense horror of war, wilfully ignorant of its looming presence. “It’s just like a veil we put over our eyes,” he writes, “a blindfold so we can keep on living our quiet lives”.

Once again, the album is out on April 6th, 2024, available as a digital release and a limited edition cassette. Pick yours up directly from Bandcamp.