Across five neat pieces evoking introductions, mountains, flow, waves and threads of home, Kyo Na conjures conceptual atmospheres that remain suggestive rather than literal.
Communicating torrid or tolerant temperatures
Kyo Na first entered my aural orbit through a John Tejada association on Touched Music‘s annual Future Stars compilation, showcasing the work of Tejada‘s seasons of production students. While that tech-house adjacent track hinted at a decent promise, immediately Sound Waves takes a neat 180° turn into ambient waters. Still, mastered by Tejada with his customary finesse, these five beatless compositions favor immersive sound sculpture over routine and rhythm; communicating torrid or tolerant temperatures, tidy textures, tenebrous tones and the tumbling motion of waters expressed through beautifully detailed frequencies that flow and fall.
Across five neat pieces evoking introductions, mountains, flow, waves and threads of home, Kyo Na conjures conceptual atmospheres that remain suggestive rather than literal. Both calmness and cataclysm coexist as indivisible: sped up mists imagined race and roil across the peaks and valleys of black and white footage, oceans rise with overwhelming force, where ships are cast adrift powerless to prohibit or commit to anything but surrender to the force, and vast imagined structures collapse into quiet dust of bricks and ashes before an eerie serenity returns.
Throughout the release, there is a patient attentiveness to detail, intention and space, allowing each of the five pieces to breathe its required air very naturally. Sound Waves is a refined and deeply expressive ambient debut, rich in summoning imagery and in that quietly captivating the consciousness of the erstwhile listener from beginning to end.
Sound Waves is available on Wol. [Bandcamp]
