November, such a hectic month for us music selectors. Starting to compile the ‘Top Tracks of The Year’ charts always puts us in front of the bittersweet dilemma of whether to include or not the brand new releases we get from now on or to prioritize the tracks that we have enjoyed for months and months through the year. I’m not gonna lie, this question drives me mad every single year, but let me also say that sometimes fate has a few surprises in store. Sometimes, there are songs that transcend this problem and immediately enter these charts, regardless of when they were published. This one between Kareful, Kokomaya and Liquid Ritual turned out to be exactly one of these winning combinations. After all, seeing a boss releasing on their own label is always a good sign for me, and the hype becomes even more real if it happens after a period of absence.
‘Reflection’ is not only a pinnacle of Kareful and Liquid Ritual’s catalog, but also of the whole of wave’s production of 2020. As a fan of the softer side of the genre, I have the feeling that, lately, the Hardwave sound has become inflated and is often declined in ways that are a too, unnecessarily extreme. ‘Reflection’ instead perfectly balances deep and introspective sounds with more uplifting traits. Vaporous atmospheres that flirt with raucous basses, ethereal vocals that clash with high energy and solemn synths: this is what I look for in a wave track and that exactly what I got while listening to ‘Reflection.’ All the elements are carefully polished, worked, rounded and mixed in the right doses. There are no excesses or cheap clichés.
‘Reflection’ is the first record I produced after I had to leave Vietnam due to COVID. I had been without a music studio for 3 months, and I felt very inspired to get back into production after taking a break from it. It originally was an instrumental, but I felt it was missing something. My girlfriend Kokomaya said she really liked it, and started writing to it. This was our first attempt of making music together, so the track is very special to me. – Kareful
Since Kareful has accustomed us to instrumental cuts, I was extremely surprised to hear how Kokomaya’s writing and vocal contribution sounds extremely organic inside the composition. Could this be the beginning of a series of collaborations between the two? Given the success of this first experiment, I definitely hope so. You can stream ‘Reflection’ on SoundCloud below or on your favourite platform here.
