Pascal Savy - Simulacra (2023)

Conceived around a time of strong political, social and cultural turmoil in the UK and elsewhere, a time ridden with a deep sense of uncertainty and unease, the music resonates with feelings of alienation and powerlessness as well as convey ideas of anger and latent violence. Working with heavily textured drones as well as sharp edged sounds and sustained rhythms to echo and articulate those feelings, some of the tracks were re-worked until their final forms had lost all relation with their initial skeleton, something that was partly influenced by the idea of simulacra not representing the real anymore, inspired by the reading of ‘Simulacra and Simulation’ by Jean Baudrillard and ‘The Weird and the Eerie’ by Mark Fisher. The addition of rhythmic structures, a new step for Savy, helped explore the idea of power by saturating the sonic landscape with repetition and pulsations. On certain tracks rhythms are implied, slowly disappearing or simply absent to reflect this idea of the real not being there anymore.

Overall the process used to make this album was heavily influenced by both the idea of simulacra (sound as a representation of the real but often devoid of true relationship with it) and the idea of connecting to something tangible and truly personal (drone textures and harmonic movement as a representation of the fragility of the real). Ultimately, this record seeks to process a turbulent period echoed by ideas of political, social and cultural disintegration. Feelings of alienation and loss, as well as a desire for reconnection are at the core of the music, and the album navigates this complex emotional and personal map while avoiding the trappings of an escape into the hyperreal of pure simulation.

Pascal Savy is a French musician who lives and works in London. He creates organic ambient and drone music as a way to reflect on erosion, transition and decay. He utilizes tones, textures, micro-melodies and noise to explore atmospheres rather than narratives. His work often combines acoustic and electronic sources generated from field-recordings, pick-ups, tape loops, feedback, synthesisers or home made electronics which he transforms into dense and layered motifs.