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Celer, "Voyeur"
The material that makes up Voyeur dates back to 2008, when Celer was at their most prolific as a duo. Intended to be a film score, the sound of this album is in league with the contemporaneous work they were putting out, but there is a distinctly different feel to this album, possibly due to its conceptual framing, or perhaps because of the project’s more conservative release schedule as of late.
Unlike many of the other Celer releases of this time period, Voyeur consists of smaller, independent pieces rather than long form compositions, or sprawling single-track sequencing of shorter works.This is an asset, because it introduces a consistently shifting mood or flow to the album while still linking each piece together sonically.For example, the shrill, glass shattering tones of "Bitter Light and Anticipating a Day Heat (The Isolated)" are not only sharp, but erratic in their appearance, creating a sense of tension that is never fully released.It is followed by "The Spilling, Romantic Goodbye (The Lovers)," a piece which dulls the aforementioned tones back to a more metallic shimmer and therefore has a looser and less oppressive sense.
As Celer works heavily with quiet passages and hushed moments, the jagged feedback of "Binoculars, a Telephone, and Fear (The Note)" cuts through wonderfully, preventing the album’s more peaceful moments from falling too far into the background.The low frequency malignancy and dissonance of "Bass Puncture (The Pressure Urge)" also does an exemplary job of conveying aggression while not relying on volume surges, and the harsher, spiky second half of "Lofty Swells (An Impending Advance)" is another wonderful example of the album defying expectations.
At this point, Celer was a duo of Will Long and his late wife Danielle Baquet-Long, who contributes vocals to this album.Perhaps it is that fact, along with the thematic nature of the album, that paints everything with a certain intimacy that is at times almost unsettlingly personal.This is most prevalent in the latter moments of the record, with "Impossible Escape (The Amicable Understanding)" and "Finale (After Midnight)" especially.The former has a consistent, constant sound (as opposed to the ebb and flow of many of the other pieces) but seemingly confined or held back by some external force, the source of the forced restraint lurking somewhere in the distance.The latter mirrors the opening, but with what sounds like fragments of an old pipe organ being slowly peeled and disentangled.The album closes with a lighter feel, but a sad undercurrent that tinges the piece.
Using the label of Voyeur, and the references made throughout the titles of these pieces, there is a representation of the more sinister, disturbing aspect of the term, but by no means is it that one sided.The gentler moments, especially on the closing "Finale," instead come across more like an intimate look inside someone’s life and all of the personal details that would come with such an observation, rather than a lurking act of creepiness.In a culture so focused on other people’s personal lives, Will and Danielle Baquet-Long have created a work that shows the personal, emotional side of such voyeurism.
samples:
- Binoculars, a Telephone, and Fear (The Note)
- Bass Punctures (The Pressure Urge)
- Impossible Escape (The Amicable Understanding)
 
