Not sad or morose, needs to be qualitatively like being under a heating lamp, almost as if one were cocooned or swaddled in warmth.
- Probably “dark” is preferable but not necessarily,
- must be “warm”, can be “chill” but not at the expense of warmth,
- probably “soft” or “easy”/mellow, intensity should be fairly homogenous throughout
- “sonorous”, “fat”, possibly resonant is good
- definitely not cold/cool or desolate
- buzzy/buzzing/buzz/swarming/swarmy, oscillating, vibrato, very mild distortion or driftiness, like bees swarming
- dreamy but still warm (opposite of inception)
- ethereal is ok but not in conflict with warmth
- liminal is ok as long as it doesnt conflict with warmth
Harold Budd - Niki D (album: Luxa)
Sirena Beach from Mario Sunshine (very similar to Niki D)
Brian Eno - Neroli
Burst Error - Warm Reset
Earthbound - Buzz buzz prophecy
This is all very subjective so take all this as more general but try to recognize the spirit of what is being sought. A lot of this sound makes me think of if microwave rays were embodied in sound
I’m glad :) More along the lines of “buzziness,” another rec along very different lines is this Ethel Cain track, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvIURYg4qY4 which is off one of my favourite records of 2025 so far, Perverts.
If you like that, the natural follow up is Midwife… Check this track off her album from last year, No Depression in Heaven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT0uFGSKQQU Going even further back along similar lines is early Grouper, like this from her 2007 record Cover the Windows and the Walls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39nQSD0a97A