squncr - Umbrella Pine

The Moorish Shield is a subjective navigation. The main beacon on this poetic and haunted route is a villa from the beginning of the twentieth century, called La Mauresque, located in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, on the French Riviera. Its owners (past and present), its location (nested at the end of the cape, almost invisible…) and the spirit of this place (where, through the ages, the stunning beauty of the landscape always hides a darker dimension…) give matter to sonic explorations, based on field recordings, out of tune pianos, radio interceptions, ghostly tones and tape manipulations. The title comes from a Moroccan symbol placed at the entrance of the villa by its most famous owner: novelist William Somerset Maugham. The main traditional function of such a symbol - central to Maugham’s life - is to protect from the evil eye, while deflecting the evil power back onto the malevolent. The eleven tracks of The Moorish Shield explore this ambivalent relationship between sun and shade and question what a Riviera landscape hides in the Mediterranean bright light, behind the perfectly maintained hedges, through the passing of decades. Written and produced by squncr Mastered by Julien Bayle/Void Label Designed by Daniel Crossley