Currently, with the music that crosses borders between modern classical, ambient and post-rock recognizing what works for you is very often becoming a matter of nuances.
It is a matter of what kind of specific tone and mood this type of music creates, very often depending on tonal variations, instrumentation and the level of musicians’ personal engagement with the music they are playing.
This is particularly the case with French chamber collective Snowdrops and their third album Missing Island. Snowdrops almost always revolve around multi-instrumentalists Christine Ott and Mathieu Gabry (and you can add a multi-talented tag to their names too) this time joined by no less inspiring violinist Anne-Irène Kempf on most tracks.
The music on the album relies on quite complex layers of instrumentation that are actually firmly suited to the theme, never overpowering it with the layers slowly revealing themselves when you peel or listen to them, whichever way you please.
In a way, it is basically explained by the verses from poet Rainer Maria Rilke, which Snowdrops use to describe ‘Retour à la Terre’, (Return to Earth) the opening track on the album:
“Everything is gestation and bringing forth. To let each impression and each germ of a feeling come to completion wholly in itself, in the dark, in the inexpressible, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one’s own intelligence, and await with deep humility and patience the birth-hour of a new clarity”
