Flore Laurentienne is a timeless work of art. The Montreal-based string quartet, helmed by Mathieu David Gagnon, is all about finding beauty in the simple. The compositions— as verdant as their name suggests, dealing in expansive, spectral gestures— are hard pieces to categorize; “ambient” music doesn’t quite cut it. Live, they’re great. Not a hint of pretentiousness, but instead an aire of intimacy, a window that opens up and draws you in to the inner workings of Gagnon’s mind. The quartet and all of their instruments occupied almost the entirety of the Public Records floor, while the audience stood peppered around them in a general horseshoe.
Though focusing intently through his own part on the synths, Gagnon still remained in intimate contact with the rest of the orchestra, rising from his seat at the final phrases of each song to guide the strings into a united finish. Poignant of all was “La nuit bleue”, a dark, icy soundscape, which, like the rest of its album 8 tableaux, was inspired by the works of 20th-century Québécois artist, Jean-Paul Riopelle. Heightened by the quiet intensity of the delicate strings— an amendment made only live (the studio version doesn’t contain an orchestra)— the arrangement whirls by quickly in a kaleidoscope of bright strings, driving percussion, and brooding synths, blooming into brilliant but subdued heights that felt deeply imbued with a nostalgia for opulent, old-time movie soundtracks.
There’s no denying the passion and meditative elegance that surrounds Flore Laurentienne’s work on these compositions. Gagnon’s approach to composing almost confronts our digital dystopia, seemingly addressing the constant churn of material and perhaps the cheapened approach to composing that has come with it. Of course, he doesn’t make that statement outright, but his reluctance to embrace anything “internet-age” here coaxes you to consider the drawbacks of modern music-making, and perhaps marvel in the fact that you can make incredible electronic instrumentals without very much. His staunchness to keeping away from any modern production technology was a welcome change of pace; the graceful minimalism of electronic music stripped down to only its essentials was made all the more affecting by the timeless simplicity of his analog manner of composing.
