Horzines Stara – Bords de Terre – Dubhe (Vlad Productions / InOuïe Distribution, 2022)
Horzines Stara’s 2022 release Bords de Terre – Dubhe (Edge of the Earth – Dubhe) is the product of four years of musical research. The album reflects the group’s commitment to challenging boundaries, geographic, emotional, generational, and stylistic. It draws inspiration from the cycles of life and nature, exploring themes of movement, identity, and transformation.
The title brings together earth and sky: “Bords de terre” evokes a shifting shoreline where borders blur, while “Dubhe,” a star in the Ursa Major constellation, offers a dreamlike vantage point. These dual images serve as metaphors for the group’s aesthetic: rooted yet fluid, terrestrial, and cosmic.
Horzines Stara is built around four lovely polyphonic voices. Meanwhile, the group’s arrangements combine acoustic instruments with rhythmic loops and evolving structures. Folk traditions meet progressive music elements. The cello delivers pop-inflected bass lines; guitar melodies weave through shifting harmonies; percussion ranges from jembe to cave tom; and the accordion punctuates with rhythmic intensity. Vocal harmonies remain central, reflecting influences from Khadja Bonet, Dikanda, Las Lloronas, and Fatoumata Diawara.
The album opens with the sound of the Normandy sea, soon joined by layered voices and trance-like rhythms. These musical choices reflect the group’s roots in post-war landscapes, oral history, and intergenerational memory. Psychedelic rock and hip hop shaped their adolescence, while folk traditions from East and West inform their creative language. Their compositions channel both inherited and invented culture, what they call a “musical herbarium.”
Founded in 2017, Horzines Stara is based in France and features women from diverse musical backgrounds:
Miléna brings experience in opera, cello, theater, storytelling, and urban world music. She co-founded UrBAM and has recorded with artists such as Bala and Rakia.
Laura draws from Balkan folk traditions and American folk-rock, with a voice likened to Neil Young’s guitar. She previously performed in Kiss the Apache and Les Cris du Soir, and has a background in music therapy.
Marceline, a multi-instrumentalist, trained at CFMI in Rennes and specializes in Latin American, folk, and traditional dance music. She also performs with the rock group Les Harpies.
Lastly, Élise transitioned from theater to Oriental dance and live performance. Her eclectic influences include hip hop, punk, Balkan, Arab-Andalusian, and African-American music.
Horzines Stara released their debut EP Ces Voûtes in 2019. They have received multiple awards, including Muskensaire (2018) and Start and Go (2018–2020). Since 2021, they have been produced by Vlad Productions and booked by La Sauce Balkanique.
Author: Madison Quinn
