layering is not about harmony
Since I watched Angine de Poitrine on KEXP I've been shamelessly on the bandwagon.
A Canadian duo from Saguenay, Quebec, performing in papier-mâché masks, playing math-rock. Or as they describe themselves, a "mantra-rock Dada Pythago-Cubist orchestra".
Khn plays a custom microtonal guitar that divides each octave into 24 notes instead of 12, running everything through a loop pedal in real time. Stacking guitar parts on top of bass lines, layer after layer, until your ear keeps trying to decode it, while the other member Klek holds the rhythm relentlessly.
The loop pedal got me thinking. Each loop enters the sequence with its own logic and stays there, accumulating alongside everything else.
Speaking theoretically. That's what perfume layering could be: controlled tension.
Layering means wearing two or more fragrances at once. On different pulse points, or sprayed one over the other. The pulse points (wrists, neck, the inside of the elbow) matter because that's where blood runs closest to the skin's surface. Most people layer to make a scent stronger, rounder or more complete. I'm more interested in combinations that stay incomplete.
1. Filippo Sorcinelli - Reliqvia: What remains after the ritual is over.
Perfumer: Filippo Sorcinelli
Top Notes: Pine Tree, Mastic or Lentisque, Cloves, Amyris, Orange Blossom / Middle Notes: Incense, Guaiac Wood, Sandalwood, Cashmere Wood, Patchouli / Base Notes: Smoke,Eelemi, Sweet Orange, Nutmeg, Tobacco, Black Currant.
2. BeauFort London - Terror & Magnificence: Dissonance as a starting point, not a problem to solve.
Perfumer: Pia Long
Top Notes: Birch Tar, Black Pepper, Saffron / Middle Notes: Incense, Tobacco, Papyrus / Base Notes: Haitian Vetiver, Myrrh, Labdanum, Benzoin, Pebbles
Worn together, they don't blend. Reliqvia holds its ground, Terror & Magnificence keeps shifting around it. Two structures running at once, neither canceling the other out. Uncomfortable in the way slightly detuned strings are uncomfortable.
Which is… weirdly interesting.
This is what layering can be when you stop trying to make it beautiful.
