Still from "Hermitage" music video
Flare Voyant has dived into the transcendent world with their song “Hermitage.” The music video was released on March 19. It was directed by Lucas Hauchard, with the song written by Rod Bourganos, engineered by Sebastian Kellig at Sausage Studios and mastered by John Keith Davis at Metropolis Studios.
Flare Voyant has never been a traditional rock band. The band pulls inspiration from many sources and are a genreless, borderless band. Their debut EP was produced by legendary producer Chris Kimsey, whose other work includes producing for The Rolling Stones and Peter Frampton. The following EP Seeds of the Flamboyant was released in 2018 and exhibited the demos that originally caught Kimsey’s attention. “Hermitage” is a track taken from their upcoming EP Elusive Times.
The band has briefly stepped into transcendental elements before. Singer Thomas Baignères felt there was too much focus on complicated funk tracks and missed the transcendental elements the band had previously dove into including the tracks “Empty Soul” and “Light & Shade” from Seeds of the Flamboyant. Guitarist Rod Bourganos was inspired and after experimentation with odd guitar tunings and the philosophy of the hermit, “Hermitage” was born.
Bourganos describes the track as “an invitation to dive into our own depths, retreat to our own darkness, and enlighten it with the lamp of our consciousness, like the Hermit.” The video exhibits this philosophy and provides an entertaining, mesmerizing journey. It starts with Baignères and Bourganos discussing coffee and toast but quickly cuts to a studio shot of Baignères proclaiming the opening lyrics.
There is a particular aura around this track. It is simply haunting and intriguing. Shifting between live footage and clips of the band recording the track, the music video is simple in execution but still very mesmerizing. There is a dash of slow-motion effects incorporated generously, freely adding to the overall impact. The aura is magnificent and lingers, shifting between various time signatures but always intriguing. Bourganos wrote the lyrics as a way to “seek convergences between different schools of thought when it comes to some of the main paradoxes of theology.” The song’s roots are deeply buried in the “‘dwelling-place’ of the hermit.” It is a simply beautiful song that I believe exhibits Flare Voyant at their strongest. The song is perfected with the strengths Flare Voyant has already exhibited and mastered: Grigory Grebennikov’s basslines provide a strong foundation. Antoine Paine’s drumwork has a less traditional sound on this track but is perfect, driving the song into intriguing twists. Thomas Baignères’s vocals are powerful and proclaim the fascinating lyrics. The song is finished with a beautiful mellow guitar provided by Rod Bourganos.
“Hermitage” is only one song from Flare Voyant’s upcoming Elusive Times, but what is not elusive is the band’s effort to create. Combining various influences and their own individual musical backgrounds, the result can be at the very minimal mesmerizing and fascinating. Be on the lookout for Elusive Times to be released on November 7th, as I believe this is Flare Voyant at their finest. The best is soon to come.
Commentaires