The Japanese-American artist takes his recurring dreams and crafts them into an opus of hybrid-electronic music.
Exitpost is the artistic moniker of Ken Herman. Born in Japan and raised up by the grit of NYC, the producer, writer, and DJ is an alternative-electronic connoisseur. A critically-acclaimed musician, Exitpost assembles sounds that are reminiscent of his birthplace. Creating musical landscapes that are both familiar and foreign, the Toyko-native explores cultural contrast on his debut album, Two Dreamers.
At the heels of the project’s lead single “Two Dreamers” and its animated music video, Exitpost has also been catching fire on Twitter with parody “remixes” that are far from cliche. Sampling a bit from the certified-fresh Korean film Parasite, Exitpost turned horror into an underground house phenomenon. The remix not only gave the Twitter community a laugh, it simultaneously bares insight to his ability to blend American electronic music with languages and thematic motifs.
Two Dreamers is the story of Exitpost’s cultural strife- a lush melting pot of nightmares, Japanese influence, and futuristic synth work. The 9-track effort is introduced with a sense of ease, “Every Day Is About You,” shuffles in with a vinyl-like film over its cheeky electronic glow, cascading into a future bass delicacy that gives rise to the second track, “New Moon Phase.” The second cut is rich with atmospheric chimes and cinematic sounds that complement that sensual lyrical work from vocalist Hanae.
“Kameari Mode” is a subtly glitchy and narcotic piece that bleeds blissfully into the psychedelic nature of “Close To Me” with Unmo. Track 5, “Anata” melts future-bass into classical Asian music to create an immersive and culturally-sound listening experience. Further proving his versatility as a musician,
“You Caught The Butterflies In My Stomach” is a delicate, romantic lullaby that pulls at the heartstrings just before the project’s namesake track “Two Dreamers” brings listeners to center with Unmo’s darling vocals switching between English and Japanese atop the ethereal production work. Track 8 “Enoshima” is a spacey gem with a more spitfire cadance than its predecessors, giving listeners a sound that is like sunshine.
The album comes to a conclusion with “Dream Of Home-” an enchanting ballad that serves as an ode to Exitpost’s two radically different homes which ultimately inspired album itself. After years of battling recurring dreams of not being able to return to either New York or Japan, Exitpost manifested his fears into something tangible while simultaneously pleasing ears and souls across the nation.
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