Looking for Consonance

The title Looking for Consonance popped into my head one day as I began thinking about a name for this collection of music. This title immediately felt important, so I kept sitting with it. I thought I knew what consonance meant in music, but I also knew it carried other meanings—ones that extend well beyond sound. Webster’s Dictionary defines consonance as “the harmony or agreement of sounds produced simultaneously, resulting in a pleasing and stable auditory experience.” The word that stands out most to me there is stable. I think we’re all searching for something that resembles stability. Agreement and harmony would be incredible—but that kind of harmony would require people to give up some of their own certainty, their own opinions. And I’m aware that even gestures meant to honor life can provoke resistance or offense, as was the case with the naming of this band, our tribute to George Floyd.

I’m also fully aware that consonance and dissonance are subjective. I love both dense, asymmetric rhythms and atonal harmonies just as much as a simple major or minor triad, or the most stripped-down groove. Everyone has their own consonance–dissonance meter, and their own level of tolerance. In music, consonance is often defined in opposition to dissonance. Dissonance creates tension and instability, and it’s meaningful precisely because it can resolve into something more grounded and calmer. In that sense, dissonance isn’t the enemy of consonance—it’s a requirement. To find consonance, you must pass through tension. You must walk through the Fire Swamp (yes, I recently rewatched The Princess Bride) to get to a safe place.

But maybe I should have started with the word Looking because regardless of what consonance means to you, this record is about looking—about aspiration—about hope. I realized a few years ago that most of my music is either an experiment or an aspiration, and this one is both. I’m deeply grateful to Anna, Sarah, and Isis, who have enthusiastically gone on this journey with me.

John Hollenbeck
Montréal, Quebec
Canada