Fjord - 'Lay Down Your Veil'
Quebec-based duo Fjord releases emotionally charged and ambient new cut, ‘Lay Down Your Veil’, their first single since 2016.
I’m a big fan of raw vocals where you can hear the cracks of emotion and the rough edges or the vulnerability in an exposed voice. So I’m really fussy about manipulated vocals, I don’t usually like them, and that robotic, synthesised effect usually makes me feel disconnected. But every now and then outfits like Fjord, come along who can experiment with their sound and retain that “real” quality which sees them engaging and affecting their listener in a conscientious and completely deliberate way.
From it’s gorgeous manipulated vocals and longing, hopeful, laconic lyrics, to the gorgeous blend of organic and synthetic textures, ‘Lay Down Your Veil’ is a soul-stirring track awash with emotion. It’s a beautiful piece of music that is lushly layered to swell with a cinematic undercurrent while keeping the pace moving less rigidly, with a fun yet dramatic, clipped, percussive groove and warm, flittering, textures that refuse to conform.
’Lay Down Your Veil’ is also accompanied by an abstract video, which compliments the sonic textures and moods of the song by showing the journey of a series of shapes, through city life, the world in its entirety, and then venturing into the universe beyond. Really cool twist leaving people out of the visuals, and choosing not to depend on a more concrete narrative; the song already speaks for itself with its emotive core that connects on such a human and personal level.
Words of Karla Harris
‘Lay Down Your Veil’ is the first single taken from Fjord's forthcoming Shallow Waters EP, which was written in Quebec City, produced in London with the help of Tim Bran (Bloc Party, London Grammar, La Roux), and features live string recordings from the Quebec Symphonic Orchestra.