Before the day’s chaos could fully drown in the darkness of the night, I managed to put the kettle on to brew some coffee. While waiting, I was simply scrolling through the page for new releases — and I was quite glad to come across a new jazz-hop work by Straepa titled “Lucid Chill.” At that moment, it felt like the perfect time to listen to it calmly and feel in the silence what this new creation from this talented artist, working alongside the equally talented jazz guitarist from the Netherlands, Bart Oostindie, is capable of.
Having turned on the track, I just sat in the dimmed light of a portable flashlight and enjoyed the warm human sound to the noise of the kettle’s light hissing. The beginning, with muted guitar chords, blended perfectly with the evening silence, which just a moment later was dissolved by the golden hum of the saxophone. The composition gradually gains jazz depth thanks to soft basses and quiet piano notes. The saxophone increasingly sets the direction of movement, while the guitar mirrors it with interesting fingerpicking. The sound itself seemed to be that moment of total clarity that I felt just sitting in the kitchen.
I really liked the palm-muting moment at the 48th second — I hope I named this technique correctly, as such a sound accompanies the listener throughout the entire composition mixed with other guitar playing techniques, making the work very rich. And if you listen closely, you will also hear light breaths of the flute that Tim decided to place under the sound of the saxophone to give it an even more lifelike resonance.
Without a doubt, this work is a vivid example of the fact that no matter how much they praise and develop audio AI, the human touch cannot be compared to anything at all. After all, the warmth that passes through you thanks to Bart’s guitar and Tim’s saxophone is the very treasure we so desperately seek in music. We want to feel that even in a dark room amidst endless silence, something that has its own soul will play beside us. And in “Lucid Chill,” it definitely exists.
P.S. To keep this evening’s warm, live sound going, you should revisit another iconic work by Straepa. It’s a perfect companion piece to this story: Straepa — Close Enough: A Warm Lo-Fi Jazz Dialogue
