Nicolas Snyder - Temporary Places (2020)

The most unanimously accepted definition of music is the one presenting it as “organized sound”. In a literal and unique way, that’s precisely what Nicolas Snyder offers us in his debut album, “Temporary Places”. These are meticulously stitched together compositions constructed from field recordings made in several geographic locations, blended with various studio materials, like manipulated clay pots, organ flutes, branches, creaky chairs, chimes and bells. With a strong cinematic feeling, this new album is in Snyder’s words “a musical conjuring of impressionistic landscapes that serve as an antidote to the loss of mobility, both mentally and physically”. Though it’s musical application is serendipitously ideal for the current quarantine period resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, it was originally composed with his incarcerated father in mind and for anyone imprisoned “by the stresses of contemporary human constructs”. These are Temporary Places indeed, moving and evolving, but all the while holding space for personal exploration and contemplation. Just beautiful.