Lockdown
American Perfumer (2023)

Lockdown by American Perfumer (2023) was created by perfumer Mark Sage of Clandestine Laboratories and arranged for release through the house of American Perfumer, and was originally composed during the COVID-19 Pandemic, hence the name. David Kern releases this in extremely limited batches, like most American Perfumer fragrances, and they tend to sell out pretty fast, making this a bit of an apocryphal Clandestine Laboratories fragrance that becomes somewhat of a Maltese Falcon for fans of the house. What is represented here comes across like an exercise in stillness and quietude for the perfumer, who had also lost his job in that interim, making his future uncertain. Rather nature-focused and peaceful, bucolic and somewhat agrarian in smell, Lockdown could almost be seen as a fusion of Ashes by Clandestine Laboratories (2021) with its earthiness, and Vert by Clandestine Laboratories (2021) with its green grassiness. Obviously this is its own fragrance, I am merely comparing concepts.

A lot of what's here feels at home in the exceedingly green herbal period of men's fragrances from the 1970's, with lots of sour musks and woody facets that emulate the green feeling of those fragrances. Not actually an herbal scent at all, it can be a surprise to learn what powers Lockdown; and its opening of lime, cascarilla, fig leaf, and dry spices feels familiar to other work from Clandestine Laboratories, before the plot twist development kicks in (a trait I've noticed with a few more-recent releases, starting off characteristic, then going "rogue" after a few minutes). Incense, labdanum, sandalwood, and civet are lightened by ylang and jasmine, feeling exceedingly classic in the final stages of the scent, and definitely not quite so avant-garde or postmodern retro-future as the usual CL work, meaning it is perhaps for the best that this isn't in the proper CL range, as it is somewhat of a black sheep; but oh what a wonderful black sheep it is! Performance is out of this world, rest assured, and a little goes a long way for this parfum concentration.

As a scent of contrasts meant to be dynamic and relaxing to the perfumer, who admitted he suffers anxiety, I think this is a success. More of a perfume for his own satisfaction than one to release as an artistic concept for his customer base, I can also understand why this was withheld and only released it as a limited run in Dave Kern's American Perfumer release series, so there are at least some people who can share this rather intimate and emotional experience with Mark. I'm not going to lie, this is one of the more impressive efforts I've smelled from the perfumer, but at the same time, it doesn't register as a Clandestine Laboratories fragrance in the usual way, not following the subversive and hypothetical themes most of those releases follow, not picturing a place in time like a photo as most CL releases do, and being much more of a personal aside. A fantastic chypre-structure fragrance with a real dirty agrarian touch and smoky incense facets, it is something worth braving the "purchase lottery" nature of its super-limited release, but perhaps not aftermarket scalpers. Thumbs up

Even when I don’t get along with Mark Sage’s fragrances, I’m impressed by their singular character and accomplished, if idiosyncratic, construction. That just goes double for when I do get along with them.

Lockdown and I are going to be buddies.

Lockdown opened like fresh, damp earth, either promising growth or portending demise. Slowly, it delivered the former: a forest floor of tree roots, pungent herbs, resinous saps, and musky mosses, plus the warm fur of a trusted animal companion breathing peacefully at my side.

These dark greens and warm browns of are anything but confining. This is not the smell of the world shutting down, but of the persistent life that had been drowned out by all the pre-lockdown noise, now revealed and embraced.

Here’s to life—and to Lockdown.