Cosmic Breeze

Berlin-based singer-producer Knowsum describes his music as “somewhere between indie dreampop, lo-fi beats and jazz funk,” which is a pretty good summation of his 2024 debut album. Made of twelve short and sweet songs that all share an easy, languid, gently grooving feel, the sonic palette is a soft focus, slightly fuzzy melange of samples and live instrumentation — ticking little drum machine beats, wah and jazz guitar, squelchy Moog and rubbery live bass,  retro synth washes, cool seventies electric piano, tinny keyboard presets, along with his distinctive light, reedy vocals. There are hints of West Coast AOR, restrained funk echoes, and some jazz too, slipping in almost unnoticed via pretty wandering melodies and complex City Pop-esque chord changes rather than showy soloing. Knowsum occasionally ups the tempo to disco pace too, adding a little glitterball sparkle while maintaining that soft, muted feel. The lo-fi production aesthetic in combination with the sometimes childlike/haunted fairground-ride melodies occasionally move things into almost-queasy territory, as though the dream is about to turn into a nightmare, but it never does; the overall mood of Cosmic Breeze remains sunny throughout.