Today artist spotlight is about a hidden gem: Kyoto Inferno by Ronin. The video in this post is about the title track from the album with the same name.
It is immediately obvious at the beginning that we’re getting something special: the traditional synthwave meets traditional oritental instruments, in a very well arranged manner. It just gets better when the intro switches into the main verse and the silky smooth pads and tasty bass clashes with the sound of a koto.
However, that is just the beginning. There are four tracks on this EP: Ragequit, Illuminati Afterparty and Kyoto Inferno (Soul Mix). I personally found Ragequit quite nice although it does not reflect its title at all: it is a very pleasant synthwave track with fine vocals! I wish all rage quits were this smooth :)
The tracks are very catchy. I found myself listening them on repeat for quite a while. Highly recommended!
No doubt that it’s breath of fresh air. It is definitely a nice example of trying something new and making it cool in the process. I wonder if it could be a new subgenre, like kotowave or even samuraiwave! Ok, I am just making up names here.
The EP is available on all major streaming platforms, highly recommended. If you can, give it a listen. You will not regret it.