A month from now, French chamber-folk musician Claire Pommet will release her latest collection of songs under the Pomme moniker, though the rollout for the project has been a gradual one. Divided into four movements comprised of three tracks each, Saisons (“seasons”) ambitiously aims to soundtrack an entire year as the record subtly shifts between the months, with each quarter of the LP being interpreted by different collaborators—in the case of the recently released winter months, Pomme had The National’s Aaron Dessner step in to add his orchestral touch to the quiet, woozy tracks that make up the Hiver chapter of the story.
In addition to bridging the gap between each month, Saisons aims to close the circle between Pomme’s recent ambient pop career and her history in classical music and modern opera, with Dessner’s mastery of strings coming in handy on the tracks he helped to write. “I drew on my own experience of the natural cycles of a year to create this album, which resembles a free musical and vocal interpretation of the seasons,” Pommet shares. “It's a very special album, built like a modern opera, in four movements like so many seasons.”
Before hearing the next chapter of the release, Pomme is sharing the visual accompaniment to the winter tracks with a nine-minute visual tying these three songs together with a surreal narrative that sees the singer frolicking in the snow with what appears to be an animate mug of hot cocoa. Enjoy that below, and scroll on to read Pommet lay out the project in more detail.
Saisons, le film is an ambitious visual work that will accompany the release of my fourth album, of the same name, in March 2024.
I wanted to get away from my usual paths and compose in a different way, to discover new ways of creating music and approaching the making of an album. Having been immersed in classical music from an early age, thanks to a musical theory course in Caluire in my hometown, as well as cello and choir lessons for 10 years, I wanted to create a bridge between these distant memories of a past life and the person I am today, while paying homage to nature.
I drew on my own experience of the natural cycles of a year to create this album, which resembles a free musical and vocal interpretation of the seasons. It's a very special album, built like a modern opera, in 4 movements like so many seasons.
Each movement is itself divided into three acts: the first is written from an interior point of view, behind the window, like a silent observation of the season as it settles in, and represents the first month: March for spring, June for summer, September for autumn, and December for winter.
Then, from the second act to the end of the third, we are invited to cross the space, to go through the window and feel the atmosphere of the season within nature itself. To settle in and live as a guest, for just a few minutes.
The first part is more minimalist, since it's indoors: it's based on a piano or a guitar/voice. The next two acts, for each season, are progressive and extensive, with the grandiloquence of nature represented by the presence of the orchestra. A documentary dimension is envisaged for this second part, for each season. This form allows me to film in great detail, focusing on details that are important for the narrative and the installation of a lyrical, naturalistic dimension.
For this project, I asked each actor to interpret the seasons in his or her own way, with all their beauty, mystery, gentleness, sadness and fascination. Everyone has a different relationship with the different seasons, and I was interested in exploring this with artists I admire:
Flavien Berger for autumn (in the tradition of “magie bleue,” which we composed for autumn 2021), Aaron Dessner for winter, and Malvina for the orchestral arrangements and composition of the immersive spring and summer parts. The album was recorded at different times and places, as the seasons and temperatures changed: May, July, September, mixed and mastered in winter.
For the film, long-time friend Hugo Pillard was given free rein to create an original and creative visual medium reflecting his personal experience of the seasons. To give listeners an all-encompassing sensory experience: sound and images.
To ensure that the film would be in keeping with the album, we decided to write and direct
it together, as we have done on numerous projects in the past. Our collaboration is rooted in the years and the mutual desire to create new representations rooted in reality but always tinged with magic.
The film will last the exact length of the album, 36 minutes. Each season can be isolated as a “clip,” but the aim is for the project to be viewed in its entirety, accompanied by the music. It's the first time I've envisaged such an ambitious visual project to accompany the release of an album, and it's part of an immense desire for freedom, renewal and artistic exploration.
