By Zackary Kozak
This Valentine’s Day, English composer and multi-instrumentalist Jerome Alexander made another beautiful contribution to the ambient and folk music scene with Message to Bears’s new single “Half Light.” Message to Bears’s blend of electronic and acoustic production cultivates awe-inspiring atmospheres that seem to awaken the lost emotions waiting to be rediscovered in the corners of your heart. It is also through these mixed mediums of modern technology and acoustic instrumentation that I find an especially engaging and emotionally provoking aesthetic of the ‘then and now.’ Message to Bears invites us to reconcile how the past has influenced our present and how nature rests beneath us all. This temporal aesthetic is not only heard in the natural soundscapes but felt in the nostalgic and introspective memories that Message to Bears empowers the listener to remember and reflect on. “Half Light” projects this emotional portal while showcasing how Message to Bears has evolved since their last release.
Light piano keys open the track before percussive electronic production sucks in and out. Soon a glimpse of the gorgeous vocal harmony enters, immediately usurping our emotional focus and rousing the song’s hopeful tone. The piano continues with a new melody that introduces a thematic section where the layers of the track finally show how they become something special together. Electronic suctions of noise construct a citadel of sound that is then decorated with orchestral notes of tension. Amidst this stimulating background of electronic beats, a trumpet enters like a seagull flying above the sun-kissed ocean below as waves of vocals surge, splashing its feathers before it must shake off and wade in the wind’s strum of the acoustic guitar. The trumpet, played by Brennan Carter (@tchumpet on Instagram), truly shines throughout the track. A little more than two thirds of the way into the song, the piano gives way to a steady electronic foundation. The singing more clearly harmonizes with the trumpet, rising from an echo to a leader with quick yet powerful drum rolls. And, just as it seems we have reached a new high, the song comes to a close; time is up and we have landed on the shore.
Although it may sound a bit cliché, the song (and Message to Bears’s catalogue as a whole, for that matter) is an experience. You really must listen to this new track yourself to see what imagistic visuals play out in the theater of your mind. This notion is very indicative of the ambient genre and I believe it is what makes such a listening experience so emotionally rewarding. The track places you in a unique space to look into yourself and see what mysterious connections you make. During my listens, I was confronted with feelings about the natural world and self-growth. I reminisced on childhood memories of playing outdoors, how the parks and beaches have shaped who I’ve become. This, I think, can also be seen in the amazing artwork for the single by Buckinghamshire based collage artist Daniel J. Gregory. The bottom half presents a black and white photo of someone standing on rocks; the photo is split at the subject’s head and replaced with a colorful shot of the top of a flower. For me, this mirrors my reflections on growth and the temporality of nature. No matter what, the artwork definitely lines up with Message to Bears’s musical aesthetic.
Like always, I can’t recommend checking out this new single enough. Whether you need a peaceful atmosphere to accompany your walk to class, an auditory representation of nature as you grind away on homework, or an entrancing soundscape to reflect on yourself, this song has you covered. Ambient music can be an artist’s dream: translating the effervescence of emotional life into its experimental collection of sound.