A deep affection of times lost to the past breathes through this release, as soothing new age melodies meet with laidback instrumentation

A detached sense of nostalgia grips so many people in modern times. Not only are so many places we’ll never visit reduced to videos and images on screens, but places and the aura they held at a certain point in the past are lost to pages of magazines or fading posters and postcards. It is very easy to lose oneself in feelings of angst and solemnity when contemplating these temporal places. However, Soshi Takeda’s Same Place, Another Time allows us to see things in a more optimistic and subsistent way.

The artist combines a new age style with elements of ambient electronica, instilling a sense of tranquillity free from creeping feelings of anxiety. The track Analog Photography showcases the artist diving to the very heart of the EP’s concept even at its beginning. The emotional cadences provided by ghostly choral voices and the touching lounge piano solo implemented midway through the track almost feel like we are watching an image of a beautiful destination fade over time. There is an undeniably an emotional reaction. After all, when the ink disappears, aren’t the moments, the emotions, and the spirit all lost as well? Yet there’s something so carefree and rewarding at the centre of the track. The feelgood percussion and hypnotic melodies caressing the listener, and gently soothing this sadness.

On the titular track, Takeda challenges us with recorded sound. Waves lick gently at a serene beach scene, one so perfect that it feels we will never quite see it for ourselves. There is a downcast sequence played out on tuneful drums, followed by a wistful bell melody. It all seems to be representative of time’s transience. But the energy is not overtly mournful, and strives forward triumphantly, helped along by heavy percussion. The artist seems to be willing us forward, on from this memory that was never truly ours.

Not only does the artist guide us away from feelings of overt defeat in the face of the relentless passage of time, they also compel us to find comfort in visiting these lost moments. Flower finds a selection of breathtaking instruments, playing out emotively and gracefully amidst an unshaken rhythm. The listener can lie back and watch this shallow visage of a flower take on a fluid and ever-changing form, discovering peace in the prospect that the beauty is merely a fluid spirit, and that the flower that once existed in real life can take on a more infinite form in our minds and hearts.

Our modern world is haunted by windows into the past. Infinitely tranquil destinations call to us from decayed holiday brochures and photos slowly losing their shine. Same Place, Another Time wills us to see these artefacts in a more hopeful light. Its heartfelt melodies acknowledge the emotions that a lost past can evoke in us, and its serene style soothes our sense of detachment brought on by time’s unfailing transience.