From Overseas, James Bernard, zakè 'Flint' [CD]

Glass-mastered, silkscreen printed CD housed in a 6-panel, 300g satin cardstock Digipak. Clear cd tray. Numbered. Shrinkwrapped. Pressed and printed in the Canada. Edition of 200.

From Overseas, James Bernard, zakè – Flint (Past Inside the Present, 2024)

In the years since the founding of Past Inside the Present, label head zakè (aka Zach Frizzell) has collaborated with an extensive roster of heavy-hitting ambient experimentalists, chief among which are From Overseas (aka Kévin Séry) and the legendary James Bernard. On Flint, these three artists make clear their well-developed bond, as they build vivid, organic worlds from an intuitive understanding of each other’s strengths, processes, and tonalities.

Opening track, “Conifer”, emerges with a dewy richness, evoking the first sharp breath of a brisk chill, and billows of fading woodsmoke on the wind. It evolves slowly, centered on Séry’s understated drones, adorned by field recordings and steeped in melancholy serenity. “Flint” drifts on a rapturous interweaving of soft electronics, deep bass, and orchestral sweep, accented by wafting guitars that evoke the gentlest parts of Fripp & Eno’s Evening Star. As the title piece, it impeccably conveys the enigma of the blown-out, pallid pine on the album cover, whose branches look almost like stalactites or thick icicles in defocused, analog grain.

In addition to the essential role of kinship in the album’s creation, Frizzell aptly describes a sense of temporal synesthesia that marks Flint as a distinctly late-autumnal suite:

“October and November are my favorite months, representing a time of winding down, and the promise of reflective stillness. The guiding philosophy here was to create music that evokes closeness, introspection, and emotional resonance, drawing inspiration from the natural cycles of life, seasons, and reconnection. What better way to express that, than with some of my closest friends?”

This intention bears out on the album’s centerpiece, “Fir”, whose glacial drone is as monumental as its namesake, but not without a soft-needled delicacy in the extremities. Bernard’s six-string bass anchors Séry’s languid guitar plucks and Frizzell’s reverberating keys – all of which are nestled in a bed of snowy hiss – and you imagine the lamentation of a steadfast evergreen as it watches its deciduous neighbors grow dormant at the onset of winter.

The comparatively brief “Cedar” encapsulates many of Flint’s core elements in a condensed, cinematic burst of boreal beauty and fuzzed-out glimmer, while closing piece, “Thistle”, draws them out into a blissful immensity with the addition of angelic vocals by marine eyes (aka Cynthia Bernard). This movement bears the most distinctly melodic guitar work on the album, with a looping motif that shifts amid changing winds and dusky decay, before disappearing in a long-tail exhalation.

More than ever, the particular talents of these artists create a seamless whole, distinct from each of their solo efforts, and unique in its presence. Flint is a grounding experience at the intersection of three vibrant inner worlds, where every layer is intentional, and every sound rife with personal meaning.


Written, recorded, and produced by From Overseas, James Bernard, and zakè. Vocals and additional production on 'Thistle' by marine eyes. Mixed and mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard. Photography by Kévin Séry. Design, and layout by zakè

©℗ 2024 Past Inside the Present
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