Pantheon is a visual and immersive experience. Bon – a production, composition, writing, and art partnership between Yerosha Windrich and Alex Morris – are curious to go beyond, displaying an interest which borders on passion for all things relating to popular culture, nature, philosophy, and standardized, accepted perceptions. In that respect, Pantheon’s music is a mirror, looking directly back upon their own perceptions and philosophies on inclusivity, respect, and personal sovereignty.
While the pair have UK roots, both come from mixed-race heritage, and as a result, Bon take a deeper look at counterculture and ‘the perception of what music means and stands for in society’. Their thoughtful, nature-oriented approach is a natural thing, too, as BON have always thought of their musical releases as being seasonal. Everything has its season and its time; the music burns out, hibernates, and renews. They also display a fluidity when it comes to genre, discarding the potential restrictions within them by eschewing their conventions.
Filmed in London, Pantheon wavers between altered and inner perceptions, and acts as an ode to nature. Beneath its surface, though, Pantheon takes in a lot more than nature. Its sixteen tracks are named after Goddesses and span multiple cultures and eras, and a femininity perfumes the soundscapes. Using samples from their own recordings produced, in their words, ‘something weathered…with the spirit of a well-loved cassette but using cutting edge production techniques’. The recordings evolve naturally, but they had a little help along the way. The process reflected ‘the cyclical and evolutionary nature of all creative processes’.
Opening track ‘Flora’ features a warm, swelling harmony and a dapple of birdsong; morning is here, promising plenty. The track expands, the notes pouring out and overflowing. Bon’s unlimited horizons are evident right from the start.
Unafraid to push into bold new areas of sound while retaining its ambient and modern classical aesthetic, Pantheon is not your typical album. Its fresh, expansive sound is ready to shatter any preconceived notions of what one might expect. The lower register of the strings seem to provide the gravel, the dirt, within the music, while on a microscopic level, soft, chiming notes seem to indicate cool raindrops, or a scattering of morning dew.
Noise, gentle hiss, and distortion are intentional and vital elements to the music, so much so that they’re treated as instruments in their own right. The pair look to explore the question: what is quality, perfection, and character, and what do these words mean to us?
?On Pantheon, Bon are also joined by Laraaji, Maxwell Sterling, and Lucinda Chua, and the expanse furthers even more with the addition of these artists. The album is a natural wonder, gently unfolding and glowing as it does so. Just like the natural world, music can’t be rushed. It has its own time and place – its own season – and Bon develop the peach-sweet sound with patience, not necessarily directly affecting the resulting music, as it seems to grow on its own, developing branches and roots over time.