Setting the tone with peaceful and playful whistle, fused with refined guitar details and textures before the song expands into a celestial soundscape as IDN sings the words “Outside, the tree, weak knees, all I want is you…”, we are already hypnotized.
Heather Grey is the first track on IDN‘s album, titled Kaleidoscope, where IDN delivers poetic lyricism, telling a love story. The track is dimensional with a beautiful synth that sounds like a harmonium, as the song expands and contract with intricate cosmic details. IDN sings, “yeah I need to fall in love with you” with emotion and passion, and a flawless and tangible tone.
The second track is Do You Know What I Mean?, where the rising artist from Boston delivers enigmatic production with subversive elements as he sings about his surroundings. Speaking on the track, IDN says, “Do You Know What I Mean? is about moving on from a broken relationship and focusing on the aspects of life that bring joy.”
Groove Bot gives us a more experimental energy, particularly the downpitched vocal production. IDN cites Moses Sumney, Caribou, HOMESHAKE, Flume, Injury Reserve, Perfume Genius, Timber Timbre, James Blake, Toro y Moi and Arca as influences, but it is clear that they are creating a universe of their own.
IDN is also known as Iden Mozafari, and he produced, performed, wrote, and mixed the entire album, with support on mastering from Leonardo Foletto.
Next up is Dolce e Pesante which means “sweet and heavy” in Italian, and this is exactly what the track is – sweet lyricism cohesively fused with an industrial soundscape. IDN describes it as a “relatively straight-forward love song”.
Hyper Funk is the fifth track on the record and features cute and cerebral vocal detailing as a cheeky interlude, which leads us onto Fantasy which featured a more metallic sound. When discussing the track, IDN says it is a “grungy queercore anthem, filled with sexual tension”.
Sedative is track seven and opens again with a more metallic edge and pulsing beat with down pitched vocals further showing the versatility of IDN as a genre expansive artist.
“I miss you, but I don’t know if you miss me too…” sings IDN vulnerably on But I Just Wrote Our Love Song, which the artist says, “is about a seemingly unfair breakup, where I long for what I lost.” We love this softer side of IDN and his vocal highs are exquisite.
Track number nine is Spring Sweets which has an astral, hyperpop energy with synthetic vocals serving as another kaleidoscopic interlude. The Insanity of Leaving Your Knuckles Uncracked is a great love song where IDN professes his feelings and touches upon the human condition. “Just let me be your shaman, tell me your problems” he sings with seductive wisdom.
Limbo Mysticism is another enigmatic kaleidoscopic interlude and we are mesmerized, which leads us onto Tidal Waves / Slow, where the multi-disciplinary artist says that he presents his contradictions between “wanting to move on and wanting what I lost, both in the production and lyrically.”
Speaking on track thirteen, IDN says “Videogames Are Worse Than Cocaine is a slow, meditative tune that goes into my psyche and mental state a bit more”. We are obsessed with the cerebral soundscape and vision for this composition.
Finally, Snake Charmer takes us back to the playful nature from the debut of the record, with unique percussive details and mind-bending technical detail in the production.
Discussing the record as a whole, IDN says, “Kaleidoscope blends between a variety of genres, including reggae, soul, electronica, grunge, trance, and queercore.”
He continues “Kaleidoscope is meant to reflect and refract itself. I wanted the album to show off my versatility as an artist, and to reference itself in the interludes to blend everything together.”
We love the high concept record and IDN‘s cohesive yet divergent vision, and have also added Heather Gray to our New Music Spotlight playlist!