While I was walking around campus listening to this album, it began to color my perception. With all the impact of a soundtrack on a movie scene, “Do You Feel This Way Sometimes?” By LEEVAI made me feel like I was walking through a dream.
My favorite track off this album was “Professional Passenger”. This track begins with looping synths that immediately triggered nostalgia in me. The loops have a dimension to them that reminds me of the way speakers on a Nintendo DS. The slightest grain washed over the song. It made think of those tiny DS speakers trying to allow out a volume too big for them. The song made me feel like a little kid booting up a Legend of Zelda game. This nostalgia made for a great hook. It opened my attention and held me there with precision.
The next track on the album is “Ambient 1”. “Ambient 1” is the first in a series of ambient tracks spaced throughout the album. The synths in this first ambient track swelled until it felt like I was in a cathedral listening to a pipe organ. The space left in the song where things like drums or guitar might go feel empty, but empty with a sense of purpose. The lack of other instruments and the dynamic swelling of the synths create a feeling of three-dimensional space. A wide open space, like an empty amphitheater, deserted cathedral, or sprawling open fields.
The album isn’t all wide open spaces though. “Midtro” is the fifth track on the album and features drumming and guitar. Nestled between “Ambient 2” and “Ambient 3” this track felt like a brief reminder to the listener that they were in the world. It is possible that last bit is just a me thing, though. “Ambient 2” had me in a nearly meditative state. It was not quite the same contemplative empty as its precursor. “Ambient 2” is filled with static and sounds I can only describe as trying to plug in a loose amp. Despite the evolution between 1 and 2, or perhaps because of it, these glitches did still fit the contemplative nostalgia the album was riddled with.
“Do You Feel This Way Sometimes” by LEEVAI is incredible and would be an accessible starting point for anyone trying to listen to ambient music for the first time. The album is a digestible eight songs that draw you in, and bring you on a journey through a soundscape. It is well worth the listen.