In the third part of the series Post-Euphoria, Guy Baron reflects on his use of audio effects to suggest the faded recollection of lost euphoric experiences.

In «Forget U», I used my voice to re-record a vocal line from Zara Larsson and MNEK’s single «Never Forget You» (2015). I attempted to examine how the act of quoting such a song, with its dance pop sensibilities, can suggest the re-evocation of blissful moments. I digitally edited the re-recorded five-word phrase («I will never forget you»), creating an additional, reconfigured phrase («I will forget you»). I further embedded these vocal elements in an instrumental arrangement that references electronic dance music production – specifically, build-up sections conventionally aimed at inducing euphoric states amongst dancing crowds (Solberg 2014) – yet without including a kick drum. In the complementary recording «Reprise», I processed an excerpt from «Forget U» using a grain delay effect plug-in that samples and adds delay between fragments of audio material (Sasso 2012).

A Memory that Never Fades?

Larsson and MNEK’s song initially caught my attention in the midst of a relationship breakup. It struck me with its determined statement about a memory that seemingly never fades. By isolating and duplicating the phrase, I sought to emphasise this message – but also to point out its peculiarity. Through recreating and digitally editing variations of the original phrase, I was also interested in elaborating its meaning and presenting a more ambivalent reality: as the word «never» is digitally cut out to form the phrase «I will forget you», the meaning of the sentence is inverted, suggesting a thin line between the remembering and the forgetting of once-blissful experiences.

The instrumental arrangement of «Forget U» further embodies notions of faded recollection. Recreating stripped-down motifs from electronic dance music, I sought to convey muted and missing dancefloor euphoria – underlined by the lack of elements deemed fundamental to electronic dance music productions, such as a four-on-the-floor kick drum. In addition – and unlike electronic dance music productions, where the build-up usually progresses to a bass-heavy drop section – here the arrangement remains suspended and unresolved throughout. What emerges from this arrangement strategy is a musical aesthetic that dwells on absence and unfulfillment, suggesting partial and transformed memories of recollected euphoric moments.

A Fleeting Flashback

As the musical matter of «Forget U» undergoes radical processing and transformation in «Reprise», it is presented as fluid and malleable and just about recognisable. Brief and structureless, the latter recording suggests a fleeting flashback to a bygone experience. The fragmentation of sonic grains, as induced by the application of grain delay, figuratively suggests how memories of yearned-for experiences may shift and become fragmented over time.

These meanings are further conveyed through placing the recordings alongside one another as part of an integrated body of work, presenting «Reprise» as a faded afterthought of «Forget U».