21-year-old multi-instrumentalist and producer Ukiyo shared his new EP Fantasy with the world yesterday which features a fresh electronic sound that transports you deep into his fantastical world.
At first listen (or even first glance) you might be getting a Harley Streten kinda vibe, but all Ukiyo wants you do to is kickback, close your eyes and allow him to take you on a journey where you’ll appreciate his sonic versatility and his immaculate understanding of layering melodic, harmonic, and percussive information in a way that is completely unique.
The most unique part about the Fantasy EP experience is that each song (besides one) is less than three minutes, which is more than enough time for Ukiyo to take you into his meditative, yet head-bopping soundscape.
The EP opens with his latest single, Clicky, where only one word comes to mind – fun (oh, and clicky). It’s a track that you can have fun with and you can tell that the Perth lad had a lot of fun in its creation process. I hope to hear this on some niche online-clothing store’s television commercial one day and see the track take off!
Now Something Like This is undeniably my favourite track off the EP. The smooth, soulful vocals of FEELDS perfectly compliments the harmonic layering of synths and thumping drum beat that to me, fills the Chet Faker x Flume void that we’ve been craving for all these years.
Drive definitely sounds like a mid EP track. We get more of a hip-hop type beat here, again no vocals, but another 2 or so minutes to appreciate Ukiyo’s ability to create music that can get you dancing in real life or in your dreams. I can imagine how nice the his light show would look to this track.
Ukiyo speaks of his passion for soundtracks and their transcendent powers. His next track Life definitely has that kinda soundtrack feel to it, and if played live, this song has the power to have the entire room swaying. 14 year old me wouldn’t have appreciated this track (all I wanted were bangers!), but I’ve grown to adore sounds that allow you to escape – to be taken into a world of your own. Anyways, whilst Life has a very similar beat to Drive, it almost feels the drive home, a sound to finish off the night with.
If Life is like the drive home, Lonesome is the being in bed trying to warm up from the winter weather outside. It features 808 high hats (which everyone likes) and a mellow piano, adding to this very atmospheric track. As Ukiyo himself describes the sound of Lonesome: “I wanted it to sound like waves at the beach on a winter day”. Apt way to describe it.
Go is a familiar track from Ukiyo. I’d call it a masterpiece in that it transitions from what sounds like a strictly acoustic sound to an all-out electronic Ukiyo-style one. It features the beautiful and blissful vocals of the Sydney-based Chymes who enhances the most ideal song that could possibly conclude the Fantasy EP experience. If for some reason Go doesn’t transport you anywhere, allow its absolutely stunning music video help you out.
There’s not much else to be said but to say that I am excited to see more from the up-and-coming electronic producer. It definitely deserves a listen and I can’t wait for Ukiyo to take his sound a notch higher and to see what he has in store for his live show.
Ukiyo’s Fantasy EP is now available across all major streaming services and available to digitally purchase here.