“Love and dance always triumph over nihilism and depression.”
A lot of people have suffered from the mental breakdowns during the pandemic two years ago. So does Night Swimmer. The whole world was lost in extremism. Clubs shut and festivals closed, it all seemed hopeless, and we had no place to rest this troubled mind.
As a track directly delineating the traumatized state of mind amid early outbreaks of COVID, Depressionfruit, off the album, Xia Ye, unleashed all Night Swimmer’s restrained impulse of dancing. Upon its raving beats, some cold city atmosphere is transmitted to the ear and body, a naked panorama of how his living environment turned into a desolate, aloof place as a result of the pandemic.
Its original dark and mellow 4/4 techno labyrinth is now deconstructed by RUI HO to showcase other possibilities of its sonic sentiments. Melancholy was chipped and chopped into the heavy rhythms of them, leading the original track into the endlessly raving vortex of void.
Another track of Xia Ye, Silver Flying carries some of Night Swimmer’s most tender thoughts and experiences with nature. It was inspired by the euphoric experience he once had in Zhao Dai on Leave 2021, a mini electronic music festival at Bohai Bay. All the raving and meditation in the woods with his friends coalesced into this improvised track brimming with tender Chinese melodies and wuthering synth effects animating winds and lights. The track also pays tribute to Pauline Anna Strom and many classic Chinese traditional music composers he loves.
Now the track is reshaped by Ciel, one of our Asian prides, to convey a whole new soundscape pulsating with her mesmerizing musical creativity and emotional beauty. Look how her music sense filters the music through pulsing and raving techniques.
While Depressionfruit documents social distancing, Silver Flying accentuates the return of love and human contact. Together with RUI HO and Ciel, these three remixes wish to convey care and love for those still full of hope regardless of the mortal troubles confronting them.
Listen to Night Swimmer – Depressionfruit (RUI HO 2000 Rave Remix):
Night Swimmer RUI HO Shy People
Last modified: October 5, 2022
