Having already released one of the best albums of 2021 (full list here), Laura Dre’s Kyoto Dreams expands on the Japanese city-pop influence of the Moving Spaces album and takes you on an immersive journey of music, art, and storytelling. For fans of Hayao Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away, the Kyoto Dreams project finds Dre crafting a musical world every bit as magical as Miyazaki’s visual universe. It also challenges listeners to engage with the album on a level that many not be ready to commit to. For those who do, Kyoto Dreams is a rich experience that offers exquisite electronic instrumentals and spiritual enlightenment.
Kraftwerk taught us that electronic music could possess soul even without lyrics but it’s a tricky proposition. Finding humanity in an electronic soundscape is impossible to define but you know it when you hear it and Kyoto Dreams is an example of such an album. Tracing the spiritual journey of a character named Rin, the album shifts between the story, as told by Rin and a narrator, and instrumental pieces that paint sonic pictures of what she is experiencing. It is a fascinating concept album but one that demands that you invest in reading the story (her website provides an English translation) to fully appreciate what is happening musically.
Taken out of the story’s context, Dre’s music continues to shift in unexpected directions and the instrumentals here contain only hints of the dark wave that made Moving Spaces such an exciting album. Having released two completely unique works of art in the same year, Dre firmly establishes herself as one of the most important artists in electronic music today and Outland Recordings does her justice with another immaculate CD package.
Having been released at the end of a difficult year for many, Kyoto Dreams is a gift to anyone seeking meaning in life through music. The need for a spiritual understanding of one’s own happiness is a real one and while Dre’s music provides a soundtrack to Rin’s journey, it also illuminates a path forward for anyone seeking a deeper meaning in their life. I missed the deeper spiritual messages woven into the synth-pop of Howard Jones in the 1980s but I am fully engaged by Dre’s vision today. Slow down, engage, and open yourself to the magic within Kyoto Dreams.
