REVIEW: Kid Lake Delivers a Taste of What’s Fleeting With Debut EP ‘as the form wanes, the spirit appears’
ACCURATELY SELF-DESCRIBED HYPER FOLK — Kid Lake’s debut EP, as the form wanes, the spirit appears, blows gently like a dandelion’s pieces in a September breeze. Nostalgia would be an understatement — with track “country road 3” traversing in the manner you might feel when burning an old photograph, keeping the plausible unpredictability in releasing what was once certain. There is a pure haze delivered in lo-fi-styled vocal effects and electronic stylings reminiscent of Mura Masa’s 2014 mixtape debut Soundtrack to a Death or their 2020 track “Raw Youth Collage.”
This EP opens by taunting “Tell me why you think you don’t deserve to die” in a transitional yet defining one-minute track. It leaves you intrigued and ready to follow suit directly into contemplative bliss seized effortlessly while cabaret and ambient influences abound. “KLTB 333” exemplifies the physical motion of looking backward — I envision the same flowing motion of a long head of hair whipping around in desire and anguish — with a deeper jangly twinge only found in all my favorite indie tracks from this life and each before.
In all transitional or meditative periods of life, there is a reminder of truth at heart. Is it reassuring, devastating, or both? Is there an in-between? The closing track “black like a dot on a map that represents death” sedates listeners in the same way you might feel satisfied after chamomile tea just before bed. Even if the wondering continues, Kid Lake finds comfortability in uncertainty with consistently sweet guitar chords, creating what mimics a sort of lullaby. Just how “Rock-a-bye Baby” melds safety and fear — this ending sequence reaches the sum of unknowing in a self-focused search with lyrics “I forgot who I was for a moment / But I’m afraid I found him again.”
In totality, as the form wanes, the spirit appears would be quintessential to an eleven-hour emotionally trenchant playlist I harped on from ages 14-17 — uninhibited by genre and best played when you want to impress your crush at their first invite to your bedroom, when taking the long drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway North to lay on top of a car watching the stars, or for your friends who understand and share (somewhat challenging) sentimental tendencies.
Those who love and respect artists anywhere in the realm of Fox Academy, The Japanese House, @, Field Medic, or Peter Cat Recording Co. can only fall undeniably and deeply for Kid Lake’s artistry. This listen is mellow, vital, and downright good.
as the form wanes, the spirit appears is out now.
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