Review: Félicia Atkinson - The Flower and the Vessel

I had to look up what ASMR was as I read this during a few reviews of the latest Félicia Atkinson LP as it was how many described the results of listening to her work.

The online definition is thus: Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a physical sensation characterized by a pleasurable feeling that typically begins in the head and scalp, and often moves down the spine and through the limbs which can induce a trance-like state.

The 'shivers', as one could call it. A sensation created by many a musical creation, none more so than The Flower And The Vessel.

The theme for this album is pregnancy and childbirth, and was written in part during Atkinson's time expecting her first child. As a parent of two young children this totally resonates with me, especially as it is not in the too distant past. Whilst I didn't go through any of the physical sensations my wife experienced during pregnancy or childbirth, the sounds and emotions that Atkinson expresses through ambient noise, compositions, silence, spoken words and minimal instrumentation are absolutely incredible, and very personally relatable both for any woman who goes through the process physically and mentally, but also for any onlooker.

Educated at Les Beaux Arts de Paris with a Masters of Fine Arts degree with honours and currently studying for a PhD in musicology at Rennes 2 University, Atkinson is a true scholar of her art. She is adept at creating very immersive listening experiences and this latest offering centres as much around the spaces in between sounds as it does on the music itself; it is worth noting that the silences are necessary in creating the mood and textures the various compositions create.

The interplay between piano, gamelan, marimba, vibraphone, guitar, cymbals, field music, various effects and samples and Atkinson's own voice (in both her native French and English) is wondrous, and she's able to conjur up some beautiful and ominous sounding tracks as a result. A sustained note, a whispered word, some static, a drone or simply space to reflect: it all works.

The whole mood of the LP is very dreamlike, giving the listener a full spectrum of emotional reactions: a sense of beginning, creation, emergence, curiosity, fear, anticipation, wonder, and excitement. If I trace back my own journey alongside my wife during the pregnancy of both of our children - which were, to a great extent, without incident - it creates a reflective feeling in me at the absolute miracle of bringing people into the world. Above all, I totally laud my wife and any other women who possess the mental toughness and physical ability to grow another human being inside of them, nurture them, love them and nurse them in their early, helpless and high-dependency strewn months and years to craft them into the people they become. We as fathers are not without our part to play but there's an inescapable fact that remains: these children were physically connected to their mothers for nine months, and we stand alongside the women in our lives as emotional support, giving all the care and love we can along the way whilst knowing we have been dealt a different hand; a different role to play. How we play it depends on the man.

Standout tracks for me are Moderato Cantabile, Joan and Open / Ouvre which really highlight the beauty of Atkinson's work, alongside the closing 18min 42 second creation which is Des Pierres. This in itself is worth the proverbial entrance fee alone, as Atkinson concludes the album with a wonderful ethereal track which combines her whispered words with a slowly evolving soundscape that ripples in and out and is transportive in its conceit; you feel suspended in the belief that you're feeling the creation of life unfold through these sounds, and connected to the experience of both mother and child. Snatches of guitar strings courtesy of SUNN O))) guitarist Stephen O'Malley perfectly complement the words and sounds wrapped around it, as Atkinson's whispers slowly fade into the background and the journey through her world is complete.

Atkinson has made this listening experience accessible to everyone by the sheer diversity of instrumentation and composition used to create The Flower And The Vessel, so outwith the theme it still serves as a wonderful example of sound art, and technically well crafted too. One can easily imagine she will continue to study how music can be constructed in this way and add to the diversity of palette and texture that is her discography to date.

10/10

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