Electronic Sound

By Martin James for Electronic Sound.

Childhood friends’ beautiful ode to nature

This is the second album from Scottish artist Tommy Perman and Mexican classical guitarist Morgan Szymanski, the follow-up to 2022’s ‘Music For The Moon And The Trees’. ‘Songs For The Mist Forest is an expanded version of their soundtrack to the documentary film ‘El Dragón De Los Bosques De Niebla’ (‘The Dragon Of The Mist Forest ), which the duo created in 2023.

The documentary explores an environmental crisis created by overdevelopment, through the ecocide destroying the forests that are home to abronias. These beautiful, small reptiles are native to the region and are the “dragons” of the film’s title.

The album blends Szymanski’s guitar playing and subtle choral electronica with field recordings of the Valle de Bravo, a town west of Mexico City on Lake Avándaro and bordered by wooded mountains, where the film is set. Consequently, the sounds of numerous endangered species such as fireflies, birds, crickets and abronias are captured and fused with this selection of sorrowful yet stunning vignettes.

At times reminiscent of David Sylvian’s ‘Secrets Of The Beehive’ in the delicate Latin guitar work, there is a sense of languid heat and disquieting calm throughout. The single ‘Esperanza’ employs distant church bells as a call to public awareness, leading into gently plucked and echoed guitars, taking us on a journey that becomes increasingly distorted, before insistent rolling beats build a fresh sense of urgency.

‘Dance Of The Fireflies’ captures the skittering beats of the insect’s wings in flight, as piped synths sing a medley melody over expressive acoustic guitar picking.

The ambience of the forest heat haze is extended further on the theme of ‘La Rosa De Los Custro Vientos’. This track again uses pipes, but this time over a repeated, building refrain that speaks of impending doom. It’s an effect that’s further employed on ‘Rodrigo’s River’, which merges the sound of flowing water, birdsong and haunting guitar, that inclines towards an evocation of a calm being destroyed, while ‘The Garden Of Contemplation’ places you right back into the beauty of the threatened habitat.

‘Songs For The Mist Forest’ is a graceful album that lulls you into a false sense of serenity, while continually reminding you of the essence of disappearing that sits at the heart of the compositions.