Entry 038 - Kagami Smile - Dream Residue

 

Something I always appreciate when listening to an artist is a trait that makes it instantly recognizable as their own. Be it a certain style of riffing, the inclusion of a specific instrument, a specific atmosphere, or something altogether intangible - when you hear "it" you know.

Kagami Smile uses distortion. Not in the way that a genre like metal or punk would use it. No, this is more all encompassing. Each one of Kagami's albums feels like things are obscured - distorted - to the point where they are somewhat recognizable, yet they are not the same.

On Dream Residue the distortion takes shape as a haze obscuring everything on the album ever so slightly. The drums are present but it difficult to place where they are coming from. The melodies are simple and repeat in the same manner that a wave would cascade against the shore - disintegration away before our eyes and ears. There seems to be female vocal tracks hidden deep in the mix of some of the songs. I can't make out what she is saying, but I think that is entirely the intent.

The album is half percussion driven and half ambient. The tracks without percussion offer this sense that I am floating in nothingness, merely existing. I'm simply left contemplating. I truly appreciate this sense of oblivion that the album provides.

The percussion led tracks have a more urgent feel to them, like there is something that must be completed. The combination creates a sense of tension and release throughout the album. It's this ebb and flow that creates an album rather than just a collection of individual songs.