Gwenno - Tresor
Gwenno
Tresor
By: Jon Gallagher
Possibly the greatest record you will never understand.
The Codex Seraphinianus is an illustrated encyclopedia written between 1976 and 1978 by Italian artist Luigi Serafini. It is written in an imaginary language which, despite years of cryptographic analysis, was confirmed by the writer in 2009 to be completely meaningless and just a collection of letter-like shapes.
The purpose of this, he stated, was to evoke the same sense of wonder children feel with books they cannot yet understand, although they see that the writing makes sense to adults.
In this, Signore Serafini delivered in spades. It is something you can look at and be completely transfixed by its beauty while being simultaneously unable to define its meaning.
If this book were music, it would be the album Tresor by Welsh artist Gwenno Saunders, who publishes her music simply under the name, Gwenno.
Tresor (Treasure) is a collection of songs sung almost entirely in the Cornish language. Cornish (along with Breton and Welsh) is a Celtic language that, although considered extinct by the late 1700s, saw an active revival in the early 20th century.
Since current estimates indicate around only 600 people worldwide with fluency in Cornish, one can tell this language is something Gwenno feels strongly enough about to express herself with.
One of the first things you notice when listening is that the instrumentation on Tresor is flat-out gorgeous. Environmental and experimental sounds swoop in, punctuate, and adorn melodies made up of sparse and uncomplicated patterns reminiscent of the random traffic of bees over a field of wildflowers on a hot summer's day—another instance of wonder deriving from sensing purpose in the seemingly unintelligible.
The atmospheric vibe of the material gives even the more specific elements such as guitars and pianos an otherworldly shimmer as if going through a sea-change into something rich and strange by mere association.
Keyboard parts are often evocative of instruments rather than simply "by the book" reproductions, such as on "Kan Me" (May Song), where they surrealistically infer flutes and woodwinds while sounding very little like them.
In contrast, the track "N.Y.C.A.W." is built over the bones of a neo-no-wave 1980's cyberpunk groove with a gloriously lush chorus that ties it nicely to the rest of the material on the album, making it stand out while still feeling very much like part of the whole.
Musically, the only way to describe Tresor is fascinating. It draws you in and forces you to experience familiar sounds in a new way, and often not in the context we usually hear them, thus making them seem like strange, new sensations.
Where this record truly takes a step into the stunning alien landscape, however, is in the vocals.
As previously stated, Ms. Saunders sings primarily in the Cornish language, and since there are less than a thousand fluent speakers of Cornish worldwide, one can assume that the bulk of listeners will be unable to discern what the collected songs are about. One then must rely on the musical and emotional quality of the voice in order to integrate it into the overall aesthetic.
Detached from the literal meaning of the words, the timbre, phrasing, and articulation of the vocal lines become significantly more apparent and vital to the song's structure. This is in stark contrast to a situation where someone is listening to songs sung in their native tongue, where such nuance might be lost or pale in comparison to the subject of the song.
In this respect, Tresor does not disappoint. Gwenno's voice is a beautiful instrument unto itself, and each vocal melody serves the song and complements its individual musical arrangement while effectively conveying the emotion of the subject material.
Nowhere is this more apparent than on the track "N.Y.C.A.W," where the voice in the verse part shifts to a no-nonsense, icily scornful delivery, atypical of the other tracks on this album. This delivery becomes logical when you learn that the song's title is an acronym for the Welsh phrase "Wales is Not for Sale" and reconcile it with Gwenno's involvement in the movement for Welsh independence.
Not coincidentally, this is the only track on the release sung in Welsh rather than Cornish. In this song, as with the whole collection, even though you may not know what she is saying, you know exactly how she is saying it.
Tresor is one of the rare albums that puts you firmly in the passenger seat, allowing the artist to take the wheel and completely guide you through their world. It is a very personal journey, and Tresor is nothing if not a luxuriously appointed and utterly beautiful map of it.
Of course, with every epic voyage, the goal is to depart for uncharted territory letting novelty and fascination bolster your courage to persevere. It's not surprising that it's a sentiment the artist herself resonates with regarding the lead-off song for this masterpiece.
"An Stevel Nowydh (The New Room) is a song about finding yourself somewhere entirely new and realizing that you're completely lost and acknowledging that the only thing to do in an existential crisis is to don your favorite hat and dance!"
You might not always know where Tresor is heading, but I can guarantee you're going to enjoy the view getting there.
