Five months into sheltering in place, it’s clear that Instagram concerts and YouTube recaps of music festivals can never replace the feeling of getting blissfully lost in live music among a sea of strangers. But since that’s not an option right now, one artist whose vintage synthesizer sorcery is worth witnessing—even if it’s only online—is Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith.
On Aug. 13, the experimental musician livestreams her first-ever performance of her new album, The Mosaic of Transformation, online. Full of bright, bubbling melodies, emotive string sections and hypnotizing, chant-like vocals, the meditative new project invites the listener to cultivate a sense of wonder in a world that currently feels so dark. It plays like stumbling upon an enchanted clearing in a forest—surprising yet full of calm, with warm, healing tones that put the listener at peace, much like the spiritual jazz of the 1960s and ’70s. Smith describes the album as a “bubble of joy.”
For the livestreamed concert, filmmaker and animator Sean Hellfritsch created visuals for the event, and a portion of proceeds go to the Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective. Details here.
