Artists often talk about immersing themselves in their work, but for Alice Hebborn it was first about immersing herself in her surroundings. Retreating to the countryside of her home country in 2021, the Belgian composer created Saisons, a seven-movement piece that offers reflections of nature as it is around her. Working primarily with piano and electronics (pianist Nao Momitani and the LAPS ensemble play alongside Hebborn here), the listener is given an immersive half hour of music that takes you on a short journey through delicate foliage, thunderous storms, and wistful landscapes.
There are moments of tranquil calm and peace, much like you might expect of a neo-classical album inspired by nature. “Mouvement 4” is like an eerie foggy marsh at dusk, electronics fluttering like buzzing insects and synth notes hopping along a gentle melody that evokes a fantastical aura. Final track “Mouvement 7” is like a still of a sunset coming into view, a few piano notes conjuring a settling peace as the atmosphere turns dim like the light. Every so often, sounds of Hebborn’s countryside life trickle into the mix, be it a flock of geese flying overhead or the ebb and flow of water against a shore; it plants us in the moment, like feeling the grass between your toes.
Nature is not all sedate and serene though. Hebborn goes for an honest representation of the world around her, most notably an Earth increasingly disrupted by climate change and affected by human hands. Influenced by ecofeminist author Starhawk and Bernie Krause’s The Orchestra of Animals, Hebborn reckons with both the harmonious and the unharmonious. “Mouvement 3” is a dense tempest of rumbling piano notes and squalling drums, a passing storm that feels rooted in free jazz as it does in nature. “The piano represents the human element, and the electronics represent nature,” Hebborn explains, and here they sound at conflict for three minutes until the dust settles. Bells chime, rainfall emerges, and a sort of peace is found as the storm moves on.
Saisons is at its best when that harmony comes to the surface though, when it sounds like Hebborn is creating right in the midst of her surroundings. Momitani’s fluttery piano on “Mouvement 1” against the softly crashing waves usher the listener gently into Hebborn’s soundworld. Pristine album highlight “Mouvement 2” follows, and again Momitani’s playing is gorgeous, stately yet delicate, like droplets on pond water. Moments like this are where everything feels beautiful, like a precise and near-impossible-to-attain photograph from nature. It’s a shame then that it is such a fleeting moment, “Mouvement 2” not even taking up two and a half minutes of the runtime here.
And this is perhaps where Saisons could have done with that bit more elaboration. Seven pieces across half an hour is enough to conjure Hebborn’s glimpse of nature, but symphonic moments like “Mouvement 2”, “Mouvement 3”, and the final two minutes of “Mouvement 5” (which seems to announce an arrival of a new crescendo before dissipating) feel fleeting and wanting of a bigger canvas. “Mouvement 6” feels like a good example of what Hebborn can do, managing to weave soft and loud, busy and peaceful, delicate and rough textures; the glistening piano notes it arrives with hook you instantly. Maybe more fully realised and fascinating pieces will come in time, especially as nature continues evolving around Hebborn. For a debut album though, Saisons is a welcome snapshot that offers an immersive sojourn – all without having to step a foot outside.
