Edy Szewy and Guilhem Forey of Edy ForeyEdy Forey is the duo of Edy Szewy (vocals) and Guilhem Forey (keyboards). Szwey is from Poland and Forey is from France, but they met in Edinburgh, Scotland, where they teamed up musically. They have a lush electronic sound that blends with their jazz-age aesthetic to create something we haven't quite heard before, and their songs have something to say. Here, Edy takes us track by track through their debut album, Culture Today.
Intro
A sonic journey through the mystery of life. Inspired by our reverence for God, it intertwines "Culture Today" chords, African-American slave song "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," Rachmaninov's "Piano Concerto (in D minor)" and Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement." It sonically represents to us what the album cover says visually.High culture in the rear view as we're heading towards the post-truth era.
Culture Today
Holding up a mirror to today's society. Social media. How it exploits people's greatest natural weakness - vanity - for profit and social engineering. Fractured attention spans, decadence, self-obsession. And how people, particularly young women, fall for it.The Fire
A tongue-in-cheek petition to God to make use out of a girl's passionate demeanor. I can be a bit opinionated.Nature Boy
We chose this standard due to the depth of the lyrics "the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." God is love, so this philosophy is a fit weapon against life's adversity. Reharmonized it to create an atmosphere of melancholic beauty and mystery. Very Foreyesque.The System
Critique against celebrity worship and our society's various failed truth detectors.Eerie Feary
Just being sad due to where things are heading. The vibe's Orwellian.Better Way
This is about interpersonal relationships where we humans decide to tear down instead of building up. Betrayals big and small.Take Your Time
In reality of conformism and nonconformism, we are the latter. Passing the baton to the listener. I (Edy) remember a social science class in high school where a nice lady opened my eyes to those two positions one takes in society. She said something like, "Society is this living, breathing organism. The only time it makes progress is when a nonconformist decides to take a stance instead of going along with the crowd." That changed me forever.
Agape
About the highest form of love.Your Soul
A song one can sing to a child, a parent, a pet, a lover. An antidote to 'I'm In Love With Your Body.' Also a nostalgic throwback to the Motown days where music was a lot more about the profound nature of love rather than its consumption. In war between spirit and flesh, we go for the spirit.Peace Of Mind
Finding meaning of life in submission to the Creator.April 5, 2024
Here's where you can listen to Culture Today.
Further Reading:
Raye Zaragoza
Vashti Bunyan
Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices
photos: Guilhem Forey, Dave MacKinnon, self portrait
More Song Writing
