I feel sound design as an art form requires some kind of out of body experience. The philosophy is to imagine and subsequently create a world in itself by way of sound that explores what it feels like to exist in said world. Kinds, in terms of tone and instrumentation, feels intrinsically tied with the distance of memory and simultaneously, its delicateness. Inspired by observing his own daughter’s attitude to creation, Kwes offers here a child’s ear on the world, a listening stripped of preconceptions.
The first two offerings on Kinds capture a serenity through fluttering chords that embody a sense of calm. Both ‘Blue White Violet’ and ‘Blue White Cyan’ are blissful in tone, harmonious, or better yet, provoke a flow state that suggests a settling of the dust and encourages a pause from the listener, engaging with memories of their own.
‘Brown Green Yellow’ and ‘Violet’ increase the level of distortion with a greater emphasis on drone sounds that, in a way, set themselves apart in the tape through their noticeable downcast wall of sound. The pair are certainly harsher to the ear with a pensiveness that shoots the album in a different direction, albeit momentarily.
The album’s pacing and ambient resonance combine to create a shoegaze-y essence ever so tranquil, stripping back life to its simplest form in a way most rarely have time for. Kinds’ sonic texture invitingly glows and is near-tangible as if only able to recall a particular memory in fragments, so you reach it in part but not necessarily in truth much like our dear friend nostalgia.
Kinds undergoes a slow unravelling, exploring the idea that a liminal space can be a space of psychological renewal, the clearing of brain fog the same way a fresh pair of eyes can instigate new ideas. Its restful theme continues towards its close, repetitive in a way that is subsuming through echoing melodies so pure, beautifully in tandem with how the genesis of the album is inspired by Kwes’ daughter. ‘Black (grey)’ and ‘Green (white)’, coexist somehow, in a way that blurs dream and memory, enticing tranquillity so that you, the listener, have the opportunity to un-furrow your brow.
It is meditative and minimalist in its composition, sanguine for the most part yet equally delightful. Kinds oscillates between synths that explore a range of emotion, focusing on everything in between – from joy, melancholy to uncertainty. Kinds is a microcosm of life itself – an admiration of a child’s simplistic view on life so as to not overcomplicate matters and thus be a wiser person for it.
