THE LIGHTHOUSE
an immersive experience on the high seas
une nuit Ésoterique DANS UN PHARE en pleine mer
Acoustic guitar
ORCHESTRA and popular instruments
The roaring sea
sounds of nature
Your STRANGEST dreams
new episode, Hallucinations, released on 12 February
A MUSICAL STORY
on the sea
IV.
HALLUCINATIONS
NEW EPISODE
Back inside the Lighthouse;
I’m filling in the register: a storm so strange, mysteries coming up from the great deep, and all my feelings…;
The atmosphere is so weird: am I dreaming? ;
Now I see whales, so beautiful a song…: Into the sea I'm falling;
Underwater I see lights and feel with joy all the life coming from the depths;
But I need fresh air, owls are calling for me;
I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO DROWN...
De retour dans le Phare ;
J’inscris sur le registre : une tempête si étrange, ces immenses ténèbres qui s’emparent de la lumière métronomique qui éclaire l’océan, où suis-je ?
Et l’atmosphère est si lourde...
Maintenant je vois des baleines, l'écho déformé de leur chant me happe, des sirènes... : je tombe dans l'eau épaisse ;
Des lumières partout m'entourent et le fond des eaux sombres frissonnent ;
Un cri déchirant me fait remonter !
J'AURAIS AIMÉ ME NOYER.
I.
I'm facing the lighthouse then
ENTERING THE VOID
Melancholy at dusk on my dark and barren island;
I'm entering the Lighthouse;
Peace amid some strange phosphorescences on the mossy walls;
Panic on the radio
Mélancolie du crépuscule sur mon îlot stérile aux roches noires ;
J'entre dans le Phare ;
Repos entre d'étranges phosphorescences sur les murs couverts de mousse ;
Panique sur les ondes radio
II.
Spinning up the stairs into the
INFINITE DARK
I plunge into darkness;
A break in an eerie atmosphere;
At the top of the Lighthouse, my beating heart is gasping for air
Montée dans les ténèbres ;
Pause dans une atmosphère si étrange ;
Je cherche de l'air au sommet du Phare
III.
Sweeping in the sweet nectar,
WATCH OUT
I open the door;
Outside, the fury of the storm,
and so many sounds of wailing, blasphemy, devotion, answer each over:
are the creatures of the deep blue sea crying on me?;
But there's a kind of sweetness...
J'ouvre la porte et sors sur la galerie ;
Dehors, la fureur de la tempête,
tant de gémissements survolent le Phare et se répondent :
toutes les créature de la mer se plaignent-elles à moi ?
Mais il y a comme une douceur
dans ce concert,
qui me prend...
WHAT'S NEXT?
The next episode, Down in the tunnel, will be released in April
Read the INTERVIEW WITH MEN TENSEL
on the Balearic Breakfast site
A TRAGEDY ON THE SEA
I composed the three first titles of the project at Dunnet Lighthouse, alone in foggy nights, surrounded by the cliffs below.
What is driven by me ?
One year before, just after the final lockdown, I went to the island of OUESSANT, in Britanny. There I gazed for hours at the famous lighthouse called LA JUMENT, standing on a rock out in a raging sea.
I FELT LIKE HOME…
I've been haunted since by the loneliness of such rocky boats, challenging the storms, crazy places in the middle of nowhere. What could be the feelings of their keepers, imprisoned where no one should live?
I WISH I WAS ONE OF THEM.
Going to lighthouses ashore is going to hell. How is nature in such dangerous places?
What could seas, so ill treated nowadays, tell us in the darkness?
Are still the waves, the wind, the sky, all the animals and the gods of the sea showing there their strenghs and their sufferings?
At this moment I knew I had to write a musical story evocating a night in the life of a lighthouse keeper, threatened by a terrible storm and his own dreams.
MY STORM WITHIN, THE ONE I'M ABOUT TO LET GO.
A musical story, without words, but immersive, stimulates imagination and direct feelings between you and me.
COME WITH ME AND ENTER THE LIGHTHOUSE.
Feel my anxiety, my perversion and the wonders of an eerie night sung by an acoustic guitar,
in the heart of what is now your own tragedy.
ABOUT MEN TENSEL
MEN TENSEL is the name of a well-known rock in the rough sea near
OUESSANT, in BRITANNY.
​
I embarked on this project after so many years playing the guitar and working all components of music,
​
TRAVELLING,
DREAMING ABOUT NATURE,
LIFE,
DESTINY,
HEAVEN AND HELL.
​
Graduated in classical guitar in PARIS, I moved to the CARIBBEAN (Martinique) to work jazz and world music. Then in SEVILLA, I studied and immersed myself in flamenco, tragedy in music. I managed a band of African music which toured in Paris until recently.
​
My brother Guillaume and my pianist friend Julien helped me to create the world of the lighthouse.
Now I need you to share your feelings about what hopefully will be,
from now, your personal story.
REFERENCES
Cetaceans crying in the sea
The seashore, so close yet so far away
The lighthouse,
solitary,
SO TALL AND SPECTRAL
THE FOG PASSING THROUGH THE WALLS
​
Here are some of my references :
​
BOOKS
The Oxford book of the sea
L. Cozan. Un feu sur la mer
H. Queffélec. Le phare / La lumière enchaînée
D.S. Murray. For the safety off all - a story of Scotland's Lighthouses
H. Pratt. The Celts
R. Renard. Melvile
​
MUSIC
Reginald Smith Brindle. El Polifemo de Oro
François-Bernard Mâche. Korwar, Naluan, Amorgos, Phonographies de l'eau...
Vicente Amigo. Poeta
Dan Ar Braz. Douar nevez
Alan Stivell. Ys
We like we. Time is local
The Alan Parsons Project. Tales of Mystery and Imagination
CONTACT
Men Tensel is a member of the Société Nationale pour le Patrimoine des Phares et Balises (SNPB), which plays a pivotal role in safeguarding the heritage of lighthouses and beacons in France.
