022 - Kunisaki - Transient

 

It is a scarce occurrence when album titles strongly reflect the emotions and imagery contained within its run time.  I’m often left scratching my head as to why the specific wording was chosen to represent an artists musical vision.  Album titles such as When the Night Air Leaves or Opaque Lens World have driven me to inquire further with the artist as to their meaning.  However, this is not the case with Kunisaki’s debut album.

The journey that Kunisaki has forged on Transient is a series of small glimpses into the lives and scenes of other people and locales.  The songwriting is deceptively simple.  Building on simple chords and sparse melodies, what is on display is a clinic in minimalism.  The majority of songs contain no sense of rhythm or percussion and feature airy and boundless synths.  

The album’s fifth track, 最长的再见, may be one of the strongest examples of the defining sound found on the album.  Starting with nothing but natural sounds, we are slowly introduced to a swell of warm synth pads.  It's as if we’re sitting by a shore and watching waves come in and out at night, gazing at the stars.  We are left to take this in for over a minute before Kunisaki adds another layer of synths, and finally the main melody.  The entirety of the track oozes with mystery and wonder.  I have images of staring up at the sky for hours on end, contemplating my small existence in this vast universe.  

A second example comes in the form of a ticking clock on the track Clarity.  During its brief run time, a beautiful melody reminds us that while time is short we are allowed to take in the beauty that surrounds us at any given moment.  When I asked Kunisaki about the clock's inclusion he had a fascinating response.  

“One of my favorite games as a child was Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, and within that game's soundtrack is a song called ‘Temporal Spire’.  As you are nearing the end of the game, everything sort of stops, and the emotions start rolling in.  I felt like I was being timed and I had to cherish every single second.   I wanted to pay homage to this feeling by using elements very similar in composition.  I'm hoping the listener realizes that with this track, the album is coming to an end - but it's not over yet.”

Transient lives up to its name in that it transports the listener to other worlds and planes of existence one moment at a time.  Not only in 最长的再见 or Clarity, but in all the songs preceding it and many of the songs that follow.  Each one having its own identity, yet all tell their own story.

“I definitely do see ‘Transient’ as that of different scenes and observations or moments throughout time. In our world, you can create a story around anything, so I feel like that loose-ness of planning within this project ultimately helped form a narrative that felt much more life-like to myself.”

That’s not to say that the music here is all the same, on the contrary the minimalist compositions take on many forms.  On Packed Streets the sense of wonder from the first five tracks is completely broken. Instead, the listener finds themselves in the midst of a busy urban setting filled with decidedly inhuman synths and percussion.  The appropriately titled Phasing offers another contrasting vision, transporting the listener to a completely different plane of existence where reality is distorted and undefined.

Even when the album does stray from the peaceful sense of wonder we are always pulled back.  The record celebrates the unknown and anything that sparks amazement.  And it’s in this that Kunisaki has found his strength: his ability to forge not only an emotive but also visual experience with sparse use of instrumentation is where he is truly in his element.  

Transient lives up to its name so much so that it sounds more like a thesis statement than an album title.  The album transports the listener and our emotions through different states of being.  Be that wonder, awe, curiosity, or even fear - we are given fleeting - transient - glimpses of this world that Kunisaki has woven. “In a single day, anything can happen - emotions can change, plans can fall through. I think that's really the feeling I hope the album gives off. Just sort of a reflection on life itself.”


Equipment Used

The musical aspects of the album were all produced using a variety of VSTs. Some older Korg reproduction VSTs were my favorite to use. To play around with them, I have a cheap, 2-octave, very worn, but very loved Alesis midi controller that I saved up for and bought when I was younger. The rain effects were found on a cassette in my friend's basement dating back to the 90s. The foley throughout the middle portions of the album are samples whose sources have been lost within the 2 years of development. And finally, the running water on the final track was recorded by myself and another friend on a studio microphone at a secret creek tucked into the mountains of rural Arizona.

Acknowledgements

Thank you very much to Kunisaki for taking the time to answer my numerous questions about his album and musical history.  Thank you to Blashy for introducing me to both Kunisaki as well as his music.  Additional thanks to Kagami Smile and Remember for proofreading. As always thank you to Blissmonkey for editing and promotion.