Tidens Larm

From tidenslarm.se

This is music as supple, expansive, and fragile as the nature it seeks to wrap in a protective veil — music that, with respectful tenderness, reflects the overwhelming beauty of the natural world, set in stark contrast to its fateful vulnerability.

Songs for the Mist Forest marks the second collaboration between childhood friends Morgan Szymanski and Tommy Perman. On their first project, Music for the Moon and the Trees (2022), the duo explored the Scottish countryside. This time, their inspiration stems from the mist-covered woodlands surrounding Valle de Bravo, in central Mexico, where Szymanski owns a ranch.

The origin of Songs for the Mist Forest lies in the soundtrack Szymanski and Perman created for El Dragón de los Bosques de Niebla, a documentary that both addresses the long-standing exploitation of Valle de Bravo and pays tribute to the region’s unique reptiles, the abronias. The documentary’s thematic essence carries through to the album, which, through its eleven hymn-like compositions, also seeks to highlight the issue of environmental degradation and illuminate the ever-escalating consequences of the ecological crisis.

Field recordings of local fauna blend seamlessly and with striking effectiveness with Szymanski’s classical, delicate guitar playing, alongside organically rhythmic sounds drawn from guava and zapote trees (among many others). The endangered species that are allowed to voice themselves here — birds, fireflies, crickets, and most notably the aforementioned reptiles — infuse the album with constant vitality. This is music that lives, and in harmony with Perman’s nuanced production, a sense of atmospheric melancholy and majestic unity is evoked.

This is music as supple, expansive, and fragile as the nature it seeks to wrap in a protective veil — music that, with respectful tenderness, reflects the overwhelming beauty of the natural world, set in stark contrast to its fateful vulnerability.