Kid Koala
Music to Draw To: Satellite (Arts & Crafts)

It’s been said before but bears repeating: Eric San is a genius. The Vancouver native’s latest Kid Koala project, Music to Draw To: Satellite, presents ever more irrefutable evidence of his brilliance.

Fans of his 2011 soundtrack/graphic novel, Space Cadet, will find familiar ground here, insofar as the album’s theme revolves around two beings tragically separated by space travel, but there is an important distinction. Where Space Cadet was still largely shaped by his incomparable turntable skills, Music to Draw To was composed using synths, keys, guitar, and other odd studio tinkerings, alongside the contributions of Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini.

As a result, its sound is unique in San’s catalogue, a kind of blissfully meditative ambient and mournful postrock that is frequently lifted up into electro-pop territory by the breathy, evocative vocals of Torrini, whose lyrics were written with San, and delivered in earnest. Even if it doesn’t inspire you to draw, it does invite deep contemplation.