Shiny Shiny: Kenie_T’s “Crystal”

“Electric” doesn’t even begin to describe this one. Kenie_T is a Tokyo producer who…well, we don’t know too much about. He’s friends with mus.hiba, and he’s released some fine material in the past. Yet his latest work, “Crystal,” is his most absorbing yet. His connection with mus.hiba also carries over to his music – mus.hiba creates enveloping tracks using synths that swirl around and Vocaloid, a touch that adds an android touch that is simultaneously unsettling and seemingly a commentary on…something. “Crystal” lacks any voacls, human or software provided, but proves just a blanketing as any of his pals works. Save for the beat, Kenie_T constructs all of this song from synths, layering them in a way that makes “Crystal” sound delicate, everything light and sorta fragile. He even demonstrates that fragility by summoning a prickly synth line to rev across the track at various moments, a trick that disrupts the prettiness on display. But even those disruptions can’t derail “Crystal’s” loveliness. Listen below.