Jean-Loup Pinson’s A Moment of Deathlessness feels like a love letter to the interplay of literature and music. As someone who cherishes the way words and sound can illuminate each other, this EP is a revelation. Pinson takes Emily Dickinson’s poetry (timeless, haunting, and endlessly interpretable) and translates its essence into a bold and multi-dimensional auditory experience. The choral contributions by The Carice Singers envelop Dickinson’s verses with an ethereal resonance, elevating her contemplations on life, death, and eternity. The voices are almost cathedral-like, evoking a reverence for her words. Yet what makes this project exceptional is its duality: London-based hip-hop artists Armanious and Tanaka Fuego punctuate this classical foundation with spoken word and rap, their raw, contemporary narratives holding a mirror to the present. The interplay between Dickinson’s 19th-century imagery and the urban pulse of modern London creates a rich dialogue across time. Pinson’s electronic compositions provide the glue, morphing from minimalistic pulses to intricate textures, bridging the tonal worlds of choir and hip-hop. It’s both disorienting and deeply harmonious—a sonic representation of Dickinson’s own paradoxical view of existence. Listening to A Moment of Deathlessness, I felt as though I was standing at the crossroads of tradition and innovation, with Pinson as the guide. His capacity to honor the weight of Dickinson’s words while opening them up to fresh interpretation is nothing short of visionary.
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