Today, I want to dive into the latest release from Mykyta Medvediev, better known to listeners as HORIZON. Mykyta has given us a special New Year’s gift—a massive 20-track album titled “Best CHRISTMAS”. This is a cohesive story that demands you stop and truly listen. Despite the artist releasing lo-fi material only once a year, each appearance carries significant weight. In this review, we will trace the album’s journey from the opening chords to its poignant final message. Read to the end to understand why this release is exactly what your soul needs right now.
1. Morning Star
It is no coincidence that this track was chosen as the opener; it serves as the perfect threshold into the album’s world. Under gentle, almost weightless guitar chords, the warmest holiday memories unfold. The beat here has a somewhat raw, unpolished texture, but this very “ruggedness” adds the necessary depth and groundedness. Lingering, ethereal piano notes create an acoustic space so wide it feels as though you could dissolve the entire spectrum of New Year’s emotions within it—from joy to quiet melancholy.
2. Stay The Same
This track begins with warm, vintage-style percussion featuring an organic rhythm. It immediately wraps you in comfort, like an old wool blanket. The delicate piano passages sound remarkably crystalline—reminiscent of fragile frost patterns appearing on a window, mesmerizing in their complexity. A magical piece that could easily have served as the opener for its ability to instantly set the right emotional tone for the entire LP.
3. Close Your Eyes
A darker, more intimate work. Here, Mykyta masterfully employs classic lo-fi techniques: filtered frequencies create a “telephone” effect, as if someone close is whispering words of support from thousands of miles away. Deep bass and a wide-panning synthesizer paint a picture of winter longing that occasionally breaks through the grayness of everyday life. The rhythm section is particularly interesting—at times, the percussion borrows traits from chillstep or drum and bass, adding momentum just as the melody becomes slow and viscous.
4. Blue
The fourth track, “Blue,” continues the melancholic thread but with exceptional grace. The highlight here is the synthesized pad. It sounds cosmic yet achingly familiar, as if this melody lived in your subconscious long before you were born. In synergy with the deep bass and enchanting arpeggios, it evokes a state of nostalgic yearning—a “bright sorrow” that helps you better understand your own feelings.
5. Day Before Christmas
The anticipation of Christmas is masterfully veiled here. It hides within a confident hip-hop beat and a restrained, neutral piano section. The track doesn’t strive to be the protagonist; rather, it acts as an observant companion to your holiday preparations. It is the perfect soundtrack for finishing up chores and finally taking a breath. Note the 1:24 mark—the unexpected and bold use of an 808 bass adds a modern edge to the composition.
6. Dreams of Flying
Another work with an emphasized low end. If you’ve been listening closely from the start, the bass saturation won’t come as a surprise. On the contrary, the deep sinusoids don’t weigh the track down but create a soft, contoured landscape. The true emotional find is the use of bird song samples. This brief, warm moment in the dead of winter sounds like a fragile reminder of the summer that will inevitably return. It is the musical embodiment of hope wrapped in professional production.
7. Letter
This is perhaps the most “beatmaker-centric” stop on the album. The melodies are intentionally muted, pushed to the background to provide space for a lingering, magnetic bass. All other instruments align with this rhythmic pulse, creating an ideal atmosphere for a brief pause. “Letter” sounds like a musical letter to oneself, sent in moments of deep reflection when words become redundant and only the vibration remains.
8. Ukrainian Lo-Fi
A tender and painful composition, resonant for anyone far from home today. The delicate guitar plucking evokes the sound of the bandura, instantly rooting the track in a Ukrainian context. This is the music of an internal struggle. Listening to it, you feel a sense of relaxation, yet deep under the skin, there is a restless “scratching.” It masterfully captures our current state: a hard-won peace masking an infinite pain that has become part of our DNA.
9. Holidays
The title promises a festive vibe, but Mykyta offers a deeper interpretation—the mood of the “after-holidays.” When the noise subsides, the lights continue to flicker in an empty room, and merriment gives way to silence. A long, viscous pad spreads through the space like evening mist, creating distance between the listener and the outside world. The neutral melodies help focus on internal peace, letting go of the unnecessary.
10. Jazzy Christmas
Reaching the album’s equator, we encounter a stylistic shift. The track refreshes the atmosphere with disco and nu-disco elements. It’s a kaleidoscope of production choices where the live bass guitar takes over as the lead storyteller. Its appearance after the synthetic basses of previous tracks acts as a breath of fresh air, offering a new perspective on the same winter story.
11. New Year’s Eve
One of my personal favorites. The track is built on the contrast between cold and warm. Opening saxophone notes and a double bass part plunge the listener into the chill of synth waves. However, warm guitar chords break through this ice, creating a kind of “condensation.” For sensitive listeners, this condensation might turn into tears, as the track’s drama reaches its peak. It is a musical reflection of New Year’s Eve, where the year’s reflections weigh heavier than the celebration itself.
12. Snowman
A beautiful, steady work that feels carved from pure ice. The “whiteness” of this sound is almost blinding. The author transports us to a mental Antarctica—a place of permafrost where absolute silence reigns. Lingering piano notes and high-frequency details create a sense of infinity. “Snowman” is a call to a total standstill, to contemplate one’s own inner desert, which is, in fact, quite beautiful.
13. Love Letter
A sequel of sorts to “Letter.” The same lingering bass and steady beat, resembling a heartbeat, remain. However, the addition of enchanting bell arpeggios and retrowave-style synths changes the trajectory. “Love Letter” is self-reflection in open space. Plenty of air, familiar guitar strums, and futuristic sounds merge into a journey where you are the sole passenger.
14. Meditation
This track is a true manifesto of tranquility. In my personal ranking, it firmly holds the second spot for its depth and sonic expansiveness, rivaled only by Next Time. Here, Mykyta places a heavy emphasis on vast, almost infinite pad sections, creating an effect of total weightlessness. The track seems to freeze the listener’s attention, stopping time and silencing internal noise. Meanwhile, the signature hip-hop beat pulses gently in the background, preventing a total dissolution into space and keeping the track anchored within the album’s overarching aesthetic. It is the perfect musical sanctuary for anyone needing to recalibrate their thoughts.
15. Next Time
This piece is hard to categorize simply as a New Year’s or lo-fi track. It stands apart, leaning toward the future garage genre. A vast acoustic space is held up by “two pillars”: deep bass and voluminous pads. The melody is delivered in small doses, which only heightens the interest. The final instrument, sounding like a folk flute (sopilka), adds a fairy-tale quality, making this one of the album’s most intriguing experiments.
16. On My Way
The meticulous percussion work stands out here—it is vivid, dimensional, and flawlessly placed within the soundstage. This sound is as warm as the acoustic guitar chords, evoking images of sitting by a winter bonfire. Short, dynamic piano passages keep the track from “freezing,” maintaining the internal drive needed to keep moving forward.
17. Ride Slow
Built on pulsating electric piano notes that lead smoothly into a massive hip-hop beat. It’s an interesting reinterpretation of sounds we’ve grown familiar with throughout the album. Bright accents prevent the festive atmosphere from dissipating, reminding us that despite the “slow ride,” we are still within the boundaries of this winter tale.
18. Preparation
A true anthem of preparation, combining the beauty of bass with a high-quality groove. Short electric piano arpeggios paint a reflection of the sun in every snowflake. The second half is particularly striking, where guitars, pianos, and synths merge into one wide, breathtaking landscape of a sun-drenched winter forest.
19. Last Dance
HORIZON built this track on a combination of bass guitar and sub-bass that you feel physically. Lo-fi rhythms pull the composition into a monolith, while “lazy” reverb-drenched guitar lines add a palpable bitterness. This is the sound of realizing that the album—and the year—is coming to an end. A final dance before turning the page.
20. Novorichna (New Year’s)
The final point, created in collaboration with JustFaded. This is not just a song; it is a manifesto. To an English-speaking listener, it might simply be a high-quality track, but to a Ukrainian, it is a mirror of our reality. While the world celebrates, we fight for our right to live. The artist, having lost his home in Donetsk, pours the pain of loss and hope into the lyrics “I will remember my home.” The music recedes into the background, becoming a frame for a powerful rap performance. It is a sobering finale that brings us back from fairy tales to harsh reality.
Conclusion
The album “Best CHRISTMAS” feels like a vast, multi-layered canvas. Despite the heavy emphasis on driving bass lines, the music remains soft and sophisticated, showcasing HORIZON not just as a standard lo-fi producer, but as a mature beatmaker with a distinct emotional signature. It is a stunning holiday release, but one with a sharp, bittersweet aftertaste. It serves as a reminder of the price we pay for the ability to listen to music and experience “relative peace” in our homes. The contrast between the hopeful title and the stark reality of the final track is the essence of our modern Ukrainian life, perfectly captured in sound.
