Hildegard - Jour 1596
Chivi Chivi
Released on October 18th, 2024
Montreal super-duo Hildegard takes its name from medieval abbess and multidisciplinary genius Hildegard von Bingen, and indeed, it requires only a small stretch of the imagination to consider that, had HvB been a millennial who grew up curating mix-CDs from LimeWire-downloaded tracks (“Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap? “Anthem For a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” by Broken Social Scene?), her prolific musical output might have more closely resembled the contents of Jour 1596. Who can prove it wouldn’t have?
I once saw Helena Deland—one half of Hildegard—open for herself at the Montreal Jazz Festival, where her Stone Bonnets Choir performed madrigals and hymns a cappella, and, forgoing between-song banter, maintained an air of fairy-like mystery that set the stage for Deland’s feature set with her band. Deland brings this artistic breadth and whimsy into her musical union with multi-instrumentalist, producer, and electronic musician Ouri.
The cheekily titled opener, “Bach in Town,” describes the kind of carefully planned and/or avoided meeting that follows the long-anticipated and/or feared return of someone significant: “Even though I’ve wondered these days / about how it would go / and what we would say / something in me advises / to leave you to your own devices.”
Given the historical references, its tempting to interpret medieval flourishes in Ouri’s shimmery harp playing, though the style also conjures the lush jazz harpistry of Brandee Younger or Nala Sinephro. The instrument provides organic warmth over distorted lo-fi beats, while Deland’s confessional indie-folk vocals evoke the sweetly melancholic introspection of Adrianne Lenker or Sufjan Stevens.
Jour 1596’s name references their eponymous first album; Hildegard is comprised of eight songs, “Jour”s 1 through 8, named for the eight-day process during which they were composed. Jour 1596 presumably took about 1588 more days to complete—time well spent—and builds on the atmospheric and improvisational feel of their debut while offering more memorable choruses and a sonic throughline that feels strongly cohesive.
The sparsely march-like “Player” recalls some of the sensual mumble pop of the first album, while “Cruel” is a slow-burn electro-ballad whose visualizer video depicts a single sultry moment from a women’s soccer game.
“Pour Your Heart Out” is another highlight, laden with poetic lyrics and heavily affected saxophone: “Milk and honey, sweeter / I forgot to doubt my body / Limbs are light in water / waxing moon pulling up the sea.”
Ouri and Deland’s harmonies are present throughout, subtly blended on the lyrics or layered in rich, pad-like or percussive backgrounds. Compressed “ah”s on the haunting “Melody I Heard” combine with meandering harp in a wistful lullaby: “I thought the air here remembered me / wrapped all around like something I could sleep in.”
The final track, “To Love Again,” is sparing in its repeated lyrical content: “Tempted to / Tempted to love again.” The fruits of Ouri and Deland’s collab, like the output of the composer whose name they bear, could indeed be listened to and loved again and again.
- Ava Glendinning