These Days

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Bengfang • "Effleurage"


Directed by Brian Beckwith and Bengfang


A few years back, Chicago artists The GTW and Bengfang released a collaborative effort titled 4814. Perhaps a reference to the year that the album takes place, the futuristic and experimental electronica EP still sounds fresh, and hit single "Cravings" continues to hit the spot. While a great deal of that EP showcases the high-pitched (see also: lovely) vocals by The GTW, the project goes especially wild because of the strong production by Bengfang.

Since that release in September of 2012, Bengfang has released a massive amount of loose singles on his SoundCloud including tracks through his collective Mint Club. Most recent, however, is Bengfang's Black Texture EP, which was released earlier this year. The three instrumentals contained within sound foreign, exotic, luxurious, you get the picture. Enough bass on this EP to set your car on fire. Be wise while using the aux cord. 

Now that we're all caught up on Bengfang, it's time to mention his brand new video (posted above), one that dropped today. The new track is called "Effleurage" and Bengfang describes it as such:

"Effleurage is a French word for 'light touch' or 'skim'. I wanted to create a sound that embodied the soft touch and feel of "Effleurage". I experimented with frequencies and melodies to try and find a balance between sonically sounding good and also having the physical vibration to tingle the eardrums. The high end frequencies that are layered on the lead/melody smoothes the ear drums in a way a skim or light touch would feel on the skin.  The video concept came when Brian [Beckwith] approached me to do a video for the song. We were talking and he said that the song gave him a really dreamy and surreal feeling. It is interesting to get the perspective of how other people interpret your music because I only started hearing that after he brought that up. We worked around  these ideas and came up with the video. It was shot on 16mm film which gives it a really warm and  nostalgic feeling."

The only thing I have to add is that the video feels like Enter the Void meets an iTunes Visualizer meets a Chicago daydream. Look out for more from the talented Windy City producer sooner than later.  

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