Hajime / はじめ is the second 5-track EP from Mexico City based experimental/shoegaze rock band Sunset Images. Their music is purely instrumental, and they claim that it “disconnects you from the world on first listen. It evokes an inner voice of reflection, a combination of a longing introspection and nostalgia that inspires hope about what is to come, and with its instrumental sound, there is only one voice left to hear, the internal one.” Hit play and hear for yourself. Get it? For yourself? Introspection? I’ll be quiet.
The track begins with a synth pad which fades into a celestially supercharged guitar riff and thumping drum pulses which become delightfully fleshed out with the addition of a low-thrumming and often pleasantly discordant bassline. The lead guitar melody is the most consistent aspect of the track (the rhythm section falls out from time to time to lend a spacey feel to the music). If I had to make an analogy, I’d call it a substantial sonic beam of light – laser precision, but not laser-thin. After the melody/rhythm of the track totally falls apart around 3 minutes (intentionally), the return of drums into the mix is welcome and energy-giving and positive and excellent. If I had one complaint about this song/EP, it would probably be over-compression – some of the production has lent an inexplicable flatness to music which has been arranged in many dimensions. It’s super tight and jammy, though.
You can keep up with Sunset Images on social media or stream more of their music on bandcamp.
