Despite every musician being different and having their own strengths and weaknesses, only a select few composers are able to channel emotions perfectly into their craft and create a feeling in sonic form. .anxious. is one of those musicians. Longtime affiliate of United Common Records, .anxious. (331k monthly listeners, featured on Lo-Fi Beats, Chill Lofi Study Beats, support on Chilled Cow) has been a contributing part of the lofi landscape for quite some time now, and has only seen so many fruits of his labor.
His latest track, "Impressions", a part of his new project, Tones, could easily change that, however. It's a shame that I cannot put in words just how beautifully composed this track is. It rivals the compositional abilities of Yumi Kimura, RADWIMPS, Joe Hisaishi, and every other popular composer for anime movies. The amount of energy that .anxious. is able to generate on a single track is fascinating, to say the least. It is an understatement to say that .anxious.'s compositional and technical mastery of the piano are being fully utilized on this track.
"Impressions" doesn't even begin with music, but rather sets the mood with the sound of vinyl foley. A beautifully composed center-shifting piano progression then begins, putting a vice-grip upon the listener. As the piano starts to fade away, it comes back with an enchantingly composed melody and additional rhythmically matching percussion, syncopating with the base chords on every intended beat. As the track continues, it only builds upon itself as additional countermelodies and synthesizer pads are added into the mix as to not bore the listener, yet retain the same level of awe and wonder over the course of the track. "Impressions" is the perfect track to listen to on any given gloomy day, while sitting in bed with your eyes closed.