{"product_id":"4582561399244","title":"Helios Espera [ARTPL-197] Japan Music CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eProduct Description\u003cbr\u003e\nIntroduction: The long-awaited new album under the name HELIOS! A superb ambient\/electronica album that blends live instruments and electronics in a balanced way, resulting in a warmer yet more expansive sound. This is the third new album under the name Helios by Keith Kenniff, a multi-talented composer who has worked under the names Goldmund and his project with his wife Mint Julep, since signing with Ghostly International. While his recent works were non-beat ambient, this album introduces beats and blends live instruments and electronics in a balanced way, striking a balance between captivating and hypnotic tracks and catchy, lightheartedness. It is an excellent work that shows Helios is at a fascinating crossroads. Keith Kenniff, a multi-talented composer, has released over a dozen albums under the name Helios and almost the same number under the name Goldmund since 2004. Goldmund prefers post-classical piano, while his project with partner Holly, Mint Julep, is shoegaze pop. Under the name Helios, he oscillates between minimalist ambient electronics and more robust instrumentation, running it all through a mini-cassette recorder to create a unique, fluctuating sound. His debut album with Ghostly International in 2018, \"Veriditas,\" prioritized texture over structure, shaping lush landscapes with harmonic sounds. His subsequent 2020 release, \"Domicile,\" presented an even quieter, more intimate ode to the interior with its synth tones. Now, the music of his latest release, \"Espera,\" is fresh and vibrant, perhaps the most distinctive of his works. Titles are important in his work, and \"Espera,\" meaning \"to wait\" in Spanish, speaks volumes about the producer's patient and cinematic technique. The album strikes a balance between captivating, hypnotic tracks and catchy, lighthearted moments, showing Helios at a fascinating crossroads. In recent years, this project had neatly settled into the beatless category, but during the making of this album, he felt a natural pull to incorporating downtempo percussion, both acoustic and electronic. The arrangements are expanded with layers of guitar and piano, and his usual tape processing gives it a warmer, more intimate feel, homemade yet expansive, vibrant yet peaceful. \"The aesthetics of the instrumental textures were just as important as the melody, harmony, and rhythm itself,\" he adds. The album's opening track, \"Fainted Fog,\" offers another glimpse of Helios's rich panoramic version. With faint synths and driving drum patterns, the track's characteristics emerge from the mist. Piano plays the beat, another synth plays a solo, and raw kicks and loop guitars rise to their peak. In 'Espera,' there are bold moments, as well as contrasting, more restrained developments. He considers each song essential to the whole, saying, \"If you were to take just one song out of the box, it would be like tearing a page from a book,\" yet they still function independently like a series of self-contained epics, with \"All The While\" best exemplifying this intention. The song consists of three parts comprised of resonant drum sequences. It begins with shimmering synth sounds, followed by the idyllic, drifting sounds of guitar and piano, and finally converges. Nearly 20 years later, Keith has mastered his characteristic slow, emotional arc. The golden \"Lineoa\" develops from a simple guitar phrase to a fully symphonic climax. His inquisitive nature is evident in the new sounds introduced throughout the album, such as the supple flute in \"A Familiar Place\" and the divinely digitized vocals in \"Emeralds.\" Through this production choice, Helios never recedes into the background, even though the artist himself is a private entity; the ambient spaces in which he operates often uniquely connect with other activities in our lives. On \"Espera,\" Keith is a producer and multi-instrumentalist devoted to rich detail, and the view he has seen is broader and more captivating than ever before. Media reviews and more: This is the third new album under the name \"Helios\" by Keith Kenniff, who is active as a multi-talented composer under the names \"Goldmund\" and \"Mint Julep\" with his wife, since signing with Ghostly International. While his recent works were non-beat ambient, this album introduces beats, blending live instruments and electronics in a balanced way, and striking a balance between captivating and hypnotic tracks and catchy lightness, making it an excellent work that shows Helios is at a fascinating crossroads. (C)RS\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TOKYO JAPAN CD SHOP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53226910351669,"sku":"4582561399244","price":3800.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1011\/5966\/5973\/files\/41ILfxTL7bL._AC.jpg?v=1785373252","url":"https:\/\/tokyojapancdshop.com\/products\/4582561399244","provider":"TOKYO JAPAN CD SHOP","version":"1.0","type":"link"}