PREMIERE: Neo-Classical Composer Fougére Debuts New Album ‘Still Life’

In the world of perfume, Fougére is a “masculine” olfactory family, originally capturing the scent of ferns, with sweet lavender and woodier, oakmoss undertones. The sense of smell comes alive, releasing a pleasurable and relaxing reaction that can transport a person to a different time and place – and for London-based musician and composer Jamie Norton, he wanted to recreate a similar sensation with his neo-classical music, performing as Fougére.

On his newly released debut album Still Life, out now through Studio Fougére, Norton wanted his music to occupy a space and give a floating sense of calmness in the same way a fragrance would: “That’s why I sit at the piano. It’s meditative for me”. On his ten piano-only pieces, Norton builds stunning motifs in line with artists such as Nils Frahm and Max Richter, using the delicateness of broken chords and sustained notes to evoke emotion and narrative.

Fougere (Photo by Pip for Futurekind Records)

Inspired by not only his olfactory senses, Norton was inspired by visual art as well for his debut album: “A few years ago I became really interested in the work of Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, a painter of the kind of still life composition that communicates a sense of tranquility and privacy. I was looking for this same sense of stillness and minimalism within this music; To try and capture a mood or moment, as if it were a still life painting“.

A long love of architecture also guided Fougère on the record, most notably the calming, open designs of Belgian architect Vincent van Duysen. Envisioning himself in those minimalist, bright locations, Fougére aimed to create music that would carve their way through the space, thinking like an architect: “Why do we create these environments that we come home to? What is the need that we’re looking to fill when we’re doing that? I wanted to write music in the same way that an architect would make that space.” Along with minimalist furniture designer Donald Judd, he also references French composer Erik Satie’s concept of ‘furniture music’. “It sounds like quite a negative thing, but it’s music that should occupy a space, like furniture does, rather than demanding to be front and centre. I really like that phrase.”

Taking his visual inspirations one step further, Norton’s choice of artwork was an important component to the record, working with Lana Del Rey and Tame Impala collaborator Neil Krug and his vintage, psychedelic photography. After the pair chatted about the record, Krug said he completely understood Norton’s vision, crafting a series of snapshots of night time flora, desert plants, sun-bleached oceans and lost desert roads that complement the fragile yet urgent key strokes on the record.

And like its tangible influences, Still Life is colourful, articulate, and cerebral collection. With close attention, you can hear the pulling of the strings and the lift of each damper, adding an immersive and rawness to the recording. Giving the titles shape and story, songs such as “Who We Used To Be” and “I Hear You, I’m Listening” follow in the footsteps of indie film scoring, blending repeating melodic motifs with a passionate classical performance to create a visual in the mind’s eye. For the 36 minutes of Still Life, Norton hopes “people get out of it what I get from sitting at a piano”. The peaceful and serene compositions effortlessly transport the listener and their senses to calming place, far away from the chaos of the outside world.