{"id":2065,"date":"2020-11-30T13:45:46","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T19:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=2065"},"modified":"2021-06-24T16:50:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T21:50:27","slug":"younger-douglas-force-majeure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/younger-douglas-force-majeure\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Brandee Younger & Dezron Douglas’ ‘Force Majeure’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Black\u2019s Law Dictionary (8th ed.) defines force majeure<\/em> as \u201can event that can be neither anticipated nor controlled.\u201d A party to a contract may be discharged of their duty to perform under said contract upon showing the occurrence of some unforeseeable event outside of their control which rendered their performance impossible or impractical. The concept dates back at least a century and a half to the English case of Taylor v. Caldwell <\/em>122 ER 309; 3 B. & S. 826 (1863). It also serves as an excellent title for Brandee Younger and Dezron Douglas\u2019 duet recording, Force Majeure<\/em> (International Anthem, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In understanding the title\u2019s significance, one should first point to the use of these clauses within a contemporary context. The uncontrollable force implicated with force majeure defenses are generally limited in area or scope – e.g. wildfires or earthquakes in a given area –  or matters unique to a particular party or industry – e.g. shortages of raw material or unexpected production delays. With the rise of COVID-19, however, these provisions are more frequently relied upon to cancel service agreements across the United States. What was once an infrequently relied upon clause is in common use. As Douglas describes it on the title track, \u201cthat one clause that never really pops up \u2026  just popped up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of the pandemic and systemic responses to it are an inescapable part of the music presented on this album. The same day New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shuttered all \u201cnon-essential\u201d businesses, Younger and Douglas began broadcasting to the world from their Harlem home. As days became months, their weekly streams became increasingly effective in concept and execution. Force Majeure<\/em> can be seen, first and foremost, as a document of these performances. The first track begins with the words \u201cQuarantine. Lockdown.\u201d The sole original instrumental, \u201cToilet Paper Romance,\u201d takes its name from the mad rush on the product earlier in the year. And the closer implores listeners to \u201cflatten the curve.\u201d  In a broader sense, the harp-bass duo is atypical in terms of instrumentation, and one questions whether their intersection would be so thoroughly examined absent the pandemic serving as a catalyzing force. But perhaps the shadow of COVID-19 is best seen in the album\u2019s overall aesthetic. Captured on a single microphone, there is at times an inherent roughness to the album. The dialogue between – and during – songs and an apparent false start on one track gives an inimitable organic quality. These little imperfections add an intimacy not replicable in a studio. In the process, these facets allow the era in which it is recorded to almost serve as a third, albeit  \u201csilent,\u201d voice. <\/p>\n\n\n