San Holo has proven time and time again that he’s a master of ethereal production and with his new ‘what is life?’ EP, he’s brought in a few friends to help bring all of the existential thoughts we’ve been having out into the world through his crisp melodies.
The title track features vocals by Bipolar Sunshine and allows steady percussion to lead gentle atmospherics through an airy melody that feels both dreamy and warm. ‘Disappear’, created alongside artemis orion and dobi, feels equally as dreamy as ‘what is life?’, but also has the feeling of light twinkling through darkness. Light tones dance above smoky atmospherics and warm synths bounce alongside chopped vocals and delicate guitar licks. ‘feel again’ feels more euphoric than the preceding tracks thanks to it’s bombastic synths, ‘it’s all happening’ brings more energy into the mix with a faster tempo and a massive drop filled with gritty synths and strong guitars, and ‘without words’ carries us off into a summery-haze thanks to sun-drenched atmospherics.
‘what is life?’ closes with ‘you and i’ and ‘forget all you know’, two tracks that feel very delicate and tug at the heartstrings quite a bit, and really sums up the journey San Holo has brought us on with this EP. Every track is reminiscent of as thought we’ve all had before, making it incredibly relatable and giving us a collection of tracks to listen to the next time we find ourselves contemplating our place in the world.