By José Gandue @Gandour
Let's consult the dictionary to unify criteria in this note:
«A symphony It is a type of musical composition widespread in Western classical music and most often composed for orchestra. It is generally divided into four movements, each with a different mood and structure.
Let's move on to the second concept:
«Hypermobility It consists of the ability to have greater flexibility in the joints, muscles, cartilage, and tendons. Joint hypermobility is defined as when the joints are able to move beyond what is considered normal.due to an increase in the elasticity of the surrounding tissues. This condition is common and temporary in most children under five years old and decreases with age., But 2% of the cases continue with this excessive hypermobility that persists over time«.
Anyway, I know, a strange way to start a review of South, an album by a group of Chilean artists, who, under the name of Hypermobile, They recorded in the privacy of their homes, maintaining social distancing due to the circumstances of the time., a musical piece presented in three cuts and four movements, which, instrumentally, has been crafted with trumpets, trombones, saxophones, keyboards, bass, drums, sequences and vocals and which, if we are asked to define its sound, after listening to it repeatedly, We would dare to identify it with an unusual mix of contemporary conservatory composition, jazz from the fifties of the last century and new hip hop. Should we use an imaginary blender to guess the ingredients? Well, a little spice from Philip Glass's pantry, lots of herbs from John Coltrane's garden, and protein from Jay Z's or Kanye West's farms. And yes, a symphony, in its classical definition.
Forget for a moment the traditional idea of "song". Let's return to the idea of "movement", of parts that describe with their resonance a sensation that will remain for several minutes, letting us be enveloped without thinking in terms of choruses, bridges and verses. Each person has worked on their own description of what they have experienced during these days of uncertainty, despair, and loneliness. Hyperlax, with each member of his ensemble from their personal space, She has managed to develop a complex thesis about everything that happens to them and around them, but at the same time, it is easy to identify with it. They express, first with wind instruments and then with words, how we have dealt with quarantine, with helplessness, with abuse of power, with unease, with everything that has hit us in this cursed period:
We're like a plague.
killing ourselves to increase the size
Then we thought,
we don't listen
And nothing is left in our fucking hands.
The entire recording lasts only 21 minutes, but the result is overwhelming. Its melancholy is addictive, and there's something about its construction that compels us to listen to its parts repeatedly, perhaps trying to solve a mystery that was apparently never posed, but which is there, because each of us, especially in desperate times, We believe that in every surprise there is an enigma, an exercise to decipher. This album is a valuable intellectual exercise, which should, amidst so many trivialities that have been sold to us to disguise the misfortune, prevail, at least for a while, in our memories., to perhaps think that in the midst of this crisis there is some benefit that we cannot ignore and should enjoy. Perhaps it's all about harnessing "the elasticity of our tissues" to make ourselves bigger and more flexible, not only for our present, but for the days to come.
