Noor is an Arabic word meaning light or divine light. This light comes into play on Yamila‘s album, as the artist seeks to find connection in all things, informed by her time in an ecologist community. The album has a remarkable fluidity of form; the tracks are a mixture of instrumental and vocal, while the vocal pieces are split between wordless and lyrical. The music and artist are in harmony with nature; in this context, the conditions are created in which divine light might break through.
Yamila is aided in this venture by the Echo Collective, whose expressive strings are the first sounds heard on the album. The electronics wait until they can enter seamlessly; the same is true of Yamila’s multitracked voice. “Embrasser un Arbre” (“Embracing a Tree”) is unapologetically nature-minded, making the connection physical; the tone is positive and warm. “Ascensión” swaps the vocals for the sounds of rain, underlining Yamila’s preference for “unheard voices to emerge.” One of these is brass, not present in person but suggested through electronics and the upper level of the violin. Late in the piece, the same electronics imitate the rain that has dissipated, recalling its timbre.
“Sin desarraigo” (“Without Uprooting”) speaks of walking lightly on the earth, although the dark center hints that something is amiss. The feeling is extended through “Lo Animal” (“The Animal Within”), in which Yamila “tries to forget the human,” but cannot; one form exists inside the other. As the tension rises, one fears that an animal nature will emerge; as it relents, one recalls that not all animals are aggressive. Even as a slight unease persists, one has the feeling that dual natures are being reconciled, symbolized by the field recordings at the beginning of “Prado” (“Meadow”) and the succulent, harmonic interplay of cello, viola and violin.
With the exception of “If You” and “Diamonds,” Yamila’s voice echoes like an incantation, when layered a ritual chant. She calls to mind ancient forces and the cultures that once revered them, inviting the divine light to enter. On “Vida” (“Life”), the album makes a soft landing, disturbing nothing, while leaving room for the movement of the soul. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 