Our obsession with the mighty Marc Soucy continues as he unveils his latest opus, Through The Quadrangle. By now, you will know that we have been covering the talented composer’s releases in detail, so naturally, we couldn’t wait to experience Through The Quadrangle, and share our experience.
Drawing us in with a meditative frequency with cerebral nuances akin to entering a psychedelic trip, the opus taps into a cinematic allure and a sense of mystery. A vocal synth emerges, bringing a human essence to the composition before bold orchestral strings are fused with an Indian female vocal sample. It is elegant, reminding us of a fusion with 60s Bollywood and futuristic, celestial elements.
A sitar performance guides us further, tapping into a serene and divine tone as the drama builds, like a scene in an Indian film. The vocals are transcendental, and the use of Indian string details with the sitar creates an authentic sound that could be perfect for a Hindi language blockbuster.
There is almost a Wild West energy that also transmutes with the piece as the drama ensues. During the third minute of the piece we experience a shifted sitar melody, rooted in Eastern chord progressions with an almost industrial, glitched guitar moment.
The ebbs and flows are serene with a meditative moment and luscious vocals having us feel like we are at a temple in Hyderabad for a moment before a stunning rebuild of the track ensues. The vocals become more astral whilst a high octane strings performance and modern drum work come into play, dimensionalising the track further and showing us that Marc’s composition genius is unrivalled.
He comments, “This 13th installment, and grand finale of my “STIR” series is meant to come full circle and summarize one of the central concepts of the music series. The interconnectedness of cultures and history – n this case via music and dance traditions – has been a guiding principle of STIR.”
He adds, “This is the longest piece, and truly needs to be to summarize the entire message. It connects the historical journey of musical ideas from India, Central Asia, The Balkans, The Middle East, across North Africa to Spain and Portugal, then across to Latin America, Mexico, and finally the American southwest. The various cultures range from conservative to very expressive, but there is a common thread there.”
We are in awe of Through The Quadrangle and how movement manifests within us through the piece as an embodiment of Shakti. The trip that we are being taken on is as divine as it is cinematic, and we are grateful to Marc Soucy for the boundless energy that he puts into his art and this almost ten minute long composition! We have added Through The Quadrangle to our New Music Spotlight playlist, as well as our TRIPPY and TIMELESS playlists!