Shenzhen ambient producer enthralls with transfixing new LP/visual album
Ambient electronic producer Kagami Smile has been one of the most prolific musicians over the last couple years, dropping nearly a dozen records of swelling, meditative lo-fi soundscapes. A couple highlights include 2018’s Anxiety and last year’s Mirror, as well as the vast and marauding double album Escaped the Self/Void of Self. Now the Shenzhen-based artist is sharing his latest mesmerizing effort Dream Residue, and with the world now shuttered under quarantine, it’s the perfect sonic and visual antidote.
Dream Residue is another epic, transfixing album from Kagami Smile, blending elements of ambient, minimal techno, shoegaze and a dash of vaporwave with shapeshifting ease. The album is endlessly dense and lush, capturing droning layers of static and ghostly vocal samples that spiral and unfurl in frenetic ways. There’s also moments of devastating, serene beauty interspersed throughout as the sounds ebb and flow like a spiritual journey.
Furthermore, the album comes packaged with an insane visualizer via visual artist Dystopia Kid. Throughout its 43-minute runtime, the clip embraces a grainy and kaleidoscopic VHS-style palette, with glitchy, staticky filters and acid-washed colors conjuring hauntingly isolating vibes. Each track utilizes a unique color scheme to bring out its own tangled web of emotions. Heady, elusive, relaxing and pensive, Dream Residue is another triumph for Kagami Smile that will definitely enthrall listeners/viewers during this time under lockdown. You can purchase the album HERE via VILL4IN, and check out the visuals below:
