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The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!
Laryssa Kim is an Italo-Congolese singer and composer based in Brussels whose latest album Contezza came out last month. Merging the experimental spirit of Acousmatics with soulful global influences, Kim’s music invites listeners into a dreamlike state, blending ghostly vocal fragments with electrifying riffs and natural sounds.
Contezza, meaning consciousness in ancient Italian, reflects Kim’s inner voyage during the solitude of the 2020 pandemic. Influenced by meditation, esotericism, and a diverse array of cultural artifacts, Kim explores themes of love, introspection, and the complexity of human emotion. The album serves as a magical ritual, an exorcism of beauty against personal demons. With influences ranging from Brian Eno to Erykah Badu, Contezza is a testament to Kim’s innovative approach to music and her profound engagement with the world’s infinite details.
For her One Track Mind selection, Laryssa has highlighted a deeply melancholy song, discovered during a period of mourning after losing a friend.
Laryssa Kim on A Silver Mt. Zion – 13 Angels Standing Guard ‘Round the Side of Your Bed
One of the most melancholic songs I’ve ever heard.
In 2013, I lost a friend and months after, someone made me discover this track.
It connected immediately with the melancholy of the loss present in me; that empty void left inside when we lose someone and all the questions, doubts, clarifications we still miss, are suddenly frozen in the irreversibility of forever lost communication.
This track made me think about him and the love for his cat, but also made me think about all the long rides we used to have late at night after bringing back home his girlfriend (she was living out of the city at the time) listening to music and discussing life. All those times we would leave the doors of the car open with melancholic music as a soundtrack with the ancient Rome ruins as a landscape, and our infinite questioning about existence in a naïf way.
This song would have been part of one of our playlists, I’m sure he would have loved it.
I’m a fan of the lullabies like loops and this kind of pathetic catlike chant and soft cry is haunting: little innocent creatures humbly grieving together in the beginning and at the end of the track.
The violins participate with their sad chant, and they make your heart vibrate sympathetically.
Not only cheerful moments, but also moments of sadness shall be allowed and completely fully experienced, and I will always be grateful to such kind of music that accompanies you the grief process, in such a delicate and gentle way.
Laryssa Kim – Contezza is out now
The Predatory Wasp 