In the depths of winter and the icy isolation of the pandemic lockdown “sonic post-cards” were exchan ged between composers Ida Toninato, on baritone saxo-phone, and Jennifer Thiessen, on viola and viola d’amore. These instruments share many acoustic ranges and qualities, enabling the duo to enjoy and expand their balanced intersecting relationship. Continuing the musical collaboration begun in their JUNO-nominated The Space Between Us, Dream of Heat continues their close conversational style to create a meditation on death and rebirth through allusions of ice and warmth. Beginning with a spare, acoustic duet between viola and saxophone, the opening track I need warmth sneaks in a cold wind and spoken word; both artists plead for heat as their instruments intertwine. The intimacy of is immediate. The layers of voices thread and expand throughout the album, grounding the humanness that draws the listener in, and expertly layered synths and occasional beats by Jason Sharp swell and morph the album from the early acoustic seeds to ambient, jazz, folk and rock. The strong arc of the album maintains the core of the cycle of death and rebirth, despite each track being a singular style, distinct from the next. The lyrics are beautifully and cleanly delivered in both English and French, keeping the intimacy at its core.
The running saxophone ostinato on Bear builds toward On a tellement rêvé, a gorgeously indescribable track combining ambient, noise and rock. I am suffocating describes anxiety with bow scrapes and low-end pulsing under vocals, becoming almost punk in its urgency to become Change, a restful, water-borne intensity that brings us home with both tonality and lyrics. Dream of Heat is a truly beautiful and authentic story of the time for these two artists.
