by Tim Draut
Cory Levinson (a.k.a. Kohwi) specializes in creating vibrant, psychedelic soundscapes of electronic bliss. His debut full length Hidden Trees is an absolute joy, which maintains a warm vibe of playful experimentalism. Sacrificing only the slightest possible amount of accessibility just to keep things fresh, Kohwi takes us to a strange and wonderful place we have never been before. His music doesn’t quite fit into any specific genre, in fact, I’m not even sure exactly how to describe it. Post-chillwave? Bedroom psych? Whatever you want to call it, it sounds fantastic.
A few of the songs on the album were previously released by Kohwi as singles (“Tide,” “Rem,” “Play With Me,”) and some are brand new such as the amazing opener “Reeling the Warmth.” The album even includes “Hobbies,” a gorgeous collaboration with Jordan Lee (a.k.a. Mutual Benefit) that quickly became one of my favorite songs of the year after it debuted on the Dope Mountain Fuck mixtape from Crash Symbols, a new cassette label run by Jheri Evans of Get Off The Coast. Coincidentally (or not), Jheri, being a collage extraordinaire, also did the wonderful cover art for Hidden Trees which complements the album beautifully.
The album shifts between bubbly sonic textures and pure melodic sunshine, occasionally surprising us with some delightful vocal harmonies on tracks such as “Tides” and the aforementioned “Hobbies.” Each track flows effortlessly into the next, so much so that they might actually be some of the most consistently seamless transitions I have heard all year. Before you know it, the album is over, and you want to hear it again.
