Allegory is everything. The alluded-to image here is that of the reef (Récif), a literal and metaphorical rock, in the form of someone who acts as a much-needed handhold, something solid to cling to in our lives as the waves of chaos try to pull us under, a lifeline or refugue a concept that I’m sure most of us can relate to if we cast our minds back to those more turbulent times in our lives.
As a song sung in French and perhaps using those lyrical deliveries as instruments in their own right as much as dialogue, it is perhaps a more subliminal form of communication found here, especially for those of us qui ne parlent pas français.
But that is fine; who needs to be taken by the hand and led to the creator’s own conclusions when we can wander this lush soundscape and draw our own conclusions?
At ten minutes long, Rorksha has plenty of time to explore the concept, starting with subdued digital beats and slowly adding pace, poise, purpose, and potential to the proceedings. Subtly and slowly burning and brooding its way forward, sonic storms are ushered in, the digital seas churn, and the concept of the metaphorical reef is created, a safe space at the heart of the music, a constant, a haven.
“Récif’s” beauty comes from the fact that rather than merely play with velocity and volume, it plays with dynamics. Rather than merely drive, it ebbs and flows. Instead of merely sucker-punching the audience, it builds subtle crescendos formed as a contrast to the near silence they grow out of. It doesn’t resort to bombast, but it gently broods; it is gradual and graceful; its melodies are equally moody and muscular; its sonic tides are hypnotic and understated as they seethe and surge. And all the time that the sonic waters wash and break…the reef remains the silent, solid constant found in the negative sonic space of the song.
