EP REVIEW: CITIZEN:KANE “SMOG”
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Inspired by the dub universe, CITIZEN:KANE took a different approach to music-making with his third EP Smog. Consisting of “Smog,” “Smoke,” “Fog,” and “Gas,” the EP taps into the sonic world of industrialized, chemical-fused smog with vivid imageries.
“Smog,” characterized by a heavier, wide-spreading smoke has a warm, groovy bass pulsing alongside a minimalistic beat. It structures its massive, intoxicating quality with a hypnotic loop that condenses its heaviness. Obscure, flashing fragments of sounds echos in an empty, hollow sound environment, give it a vivid, eerie feel that could easily remind of certain scenes from a sci-fi movie.
“Fog” quiets down with its deadly dark, epic swooping bass approaching your eardrum as if giant footsteps. The dazzling, obscure synth-chant directly contrasts with its dark, melancholy personality where domination and sensitivity co-exist. It constantly amazes you with the power of simple note sequences.
The EP takes a detour to a light-hearted, festive “Smoke,” visualizing the immense, rising-up, and spreading-out smoke in the air. As if coming from a pipe with mysterious flavor and alluring possibilities, you watch the way it drops and interacts unexpectedly in the air, forming its own world. A variety of passages and single sounds evoke memories about ambulances and alarms. “Gas” dives into malfunction and dissonance with its unique sense of invisibility and danger mixing in the air. Reverberant drones escalate in the background gives it a chilly feel.
CITIZEN:KANE adheres to the illuminating, meditative structure, layering up with sonic storytelling and visualization in Smog. It’s a mashup of what it could be when memories and imaginations meet one simple shape of air.
Written by Katrina Yang
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