Music is incredibly useful in understanding the world of fragrance. Not only is scent constructed in a manner akin to scoring music, but it too is focused on capturing and provoking emotional response. Many articles and blogposts have been written on the similarities between the two, so I won’t go too deep into the subject, but will say I find the science of both to be quite fascinating.
I’ve always been very open about how music (and particular musicians) have inspired my work over the years. I’ve used songs to explain intended emotional fragrant arcs for briefing, played around with the impact of sound in the commercial side of media production, and have even adopted a few musicians as muses. When a song grabs me, I run with it.
This past weekend was spent filling, labeling and packing up the first production of Christopher Street. As each bottle is packaged by hand, it took a bit of time. Music was definitely crucial to keep up morale. In homage to the infamous jukebox inside The Stonewall Inn (a huge source of the place’s popularity), the day started out with listening to Motown before letting the iTunes genius take over. Eventually, the stereo started playing the latest Noisettes album. Specifically, the title track, Contact, which was not only fitting to the task at hand, but really got my fume-infused brain thinking about fragrance possibilities.
Making Fragrance Contact
Contact reminds me of the same specialness I associate with the aura of fragrance. The beauty of its embrace… something that is still only able to be experienced through physical human contact. We may dream of a world where we can send smells by email, but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you talk to) that’s just not today. Fragrance still requires that we seek it out. It’s a discovery to be found. Or a surprise to delight. When it hits us, we feel it.
“…When we make contact, I just don’t want it to end…”
I find the unique sound of The Noisettes, especially Shingai’s voice, very olfactively inspirational. It’s distinctive, signature, and captivating. I’m surprised she hasn’t been tapped for a beauty campaign yet, and even more surprised that their music has not been used in a fragrance campaign. Perhaps its time to bottle this.
Contact is the fourth track played in the video below from Rock The Games for London 2012. Love to know what everyone thinks of the lyrics. They can also be found written out here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RnN4fYxhVg
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