Boku: Sleep EP – 2022

Review zu Boku: Sleep EP – 2022

Title: Sleep
Artist: Boku
Format: 4-Track EP
Label: Feel Good Lost
Release Date: 22. April 2022
Genre: Ambient, Downtempo
4 Tracks • 12m 44s

At Qobuz available in
24-Bit / 44.1 kHz – Hi-res – Stereo

At Apple Music available in
24-Bit / 44.1 kHz – Hi-res – Stereo

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Review

Emerging Irish talent Boku returns with his highly anticipated 4-track EP „Sleep“ on Feel Good Lost. The new opus is a direct follow up to last April’s critically acclaimed single „Epiphany“ and is also his second EP following the release of the 3 track EP „Fortune“. In addition to the EP’s first song „Lacuna“, renowned director Locky has produced an immensely atmospheric music video for the track. SLEEP is out now via Feel Good Lost Records, the label of drummer Brendan Canty of the US-band Fugazi and is ready to stream on all known platforms.

The first track LACUNA is an electronically spherical downtempo composition that immediately captivates the listener with a calming, contemplative atmosphere. The soft falling of rain can be heard in the distance, paired with slightly misty piano lines. In addition, other slightly discordant ambient sounds are introduced into the fascinating soundscape. The sonic soundscape spreads out on an immensely powerful bass carpet that permeates the track until about the middle of the track. Towards the end, the original intensity decreases and all ambient textures are losing contour.

DAYDREAMING, the second track, impresses with its atmospheric quality and gives the listener the feeling of going on a very quiet, long journey through his own world of thoughts. The restrained slightly classical piano fragments and again and again briefly fading production offsets convey a feeling of pleasantly distanced emotionality. DAYDREAMING is the pre-released singe that set the stage for the songs of this EP with a pensive melancholic mood that conveys curiosity.

The following track THE BIND maintains the typical soothing energy and has the same deeply calming mood for the listener as its predecessors, thanks to Boku’s impressive piano work and peaceful production sensibilities.

The track dances through the wind like a feather, and is at once contemplative, covered with beauty, and features an almost mystical melodic line carrying us away.

Here, the versatility and power of the Irish sound artist is evident when it comes to shaping his very own creative vision and implementing it in music.

4X4″ rounds out the SLEEP EP with a meditative introverted flair. Once again, the path-setting piano lines are incredibly soothingly ear-catching, allowing further fragmentary yet increasingly substantial instrumentalizations to unfold and provide an idiosyncratically beautiful corpus to the slow rhythms and melodic leads.

Under the Bottom Line:

The four extremely impressive tracks on this EP all hook deeply into the listener’s mind, settling into the auditory center and exuding an enspanding thoughtfulness that fits perfectly into this era and is appealing to us on many immersive levels. The EP SLEEP is simply unbelievably beautiful, the 12 minutes of total running time fly by and vanish into the clouds of memories floating by in front of the listener’s mind’s eye.

The Lacuna Video:

The music video for the track LACUNA was staged by the renowned Irish director Locky and is a 2:23-minute miniature film that shows the strained relationship between two people who love each other over time.

The term LACUNA comes from Italian and means „emptiness“ or „missing piece“ and is the main leitmotif of the video. Happiness, sadness and everything that may lie in between is visually impressively realized That goes all the way to the separation of the couple, which stands there like a road marker, showing us what it means when we drift apart over a long period of time without really being able to stop it.

About Boku

Ian Ring, known as Boku, is an emerging Irish producer musically based in ambient and downtempo, releasing his own distinctive brand of electronic soundscapes since August 2019. He first began his career in this field as part of the electro-pop duo Young Wonder, consisting of Ring and Rachel Koeman, also from Cork. His most recent foray into the dance music landscape has seen him producing artists such as Denise Chaila, Murli and God Knows at Narolane. Over the years he has come to the attention of the music business scene, including labels such as Sony Music, Ultra Records, Universal Music Group and Warner Music, and last but not least BBC Radio 1.

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My Test-Equiment:

Studio 1 (High End):

• 2 x System Audio SA Mantra 50 (front)
• 1x System Audio SA Mantra 10 AV (center)
• 2x System Audio SA Legend 5 (Rear)
• 1 x System Audio Saxo 10 (Subwoofer)
• 4 x Onkyo SKH-410 (B) (Dolby Atmos)
• Auralic Altair (Audio Streaming Client mit max. 32 Bit / 384 kHz)
• NVIDIA Shield Pro mit Plex, Kodi (max 192 kHz für  Audio, Tidal (MQA Streaming Client)
• AppleTV 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Amazon Cube 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos (restricted), HDR, Dolby Vision
• Panasonic DP-UB9004 (4K UHD Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Oppo UDP-203 (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Yamaha CX-A5100 (Preamp) 4K, Dolby Atmos, Hi-res
• Yamaha MX -A5000 (Power Amp)
• Sony KD-55A1 (TV) 4K OLED, HDR, Dolby Vision

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