A Leisurely Swim To Everlasting Life by Ki Oni
Death has a bad reputation. Especially in American culture, it is not polite to talk about death. The dying are quarantined away in hospitals or nursing homes. The dead themselves are quickly shoved inside expensive coffins or turned into a pile of dust and bone by industrial incinerators. To reinforce our aversion to sickness, disability, and death, youth is held on a pedestal, with life-extension research making headlines as the technology advances. But the newest release from Ki Oni, A Leisurely Swim To Everlasting Life, encourages listeners to let go and sink into the gentle waters of the fate that awaits us all. Inspired by and dedicated to the artist’s deceased grandmother, this beautiful ambient soundscape captures the journey of the disembodied spirit as it leaves this world and is born into the next.
Discussing the album, Ki Oni’s Chuck Soo-Hoo explains, “In Chinese traditions, family and friends of a recent deceased would leave their light on for several days to help guide the spirit home to say their last goodbyes to their loved ones before they fully move on to the afterlife.” And like a ghost passing through the city to bid its farewells, Ki Oni utilizes field recordings captured during daily life in Los Angeles as the foundation for each track. The sound of leaves fluttering in the Pacific ocean breeze and the rumbling metro lines serve as sonic psychopomps through the very soul of the city. Shimmery microtonal arrangements are layered over spinning bicycle wheels and rain pattering on window panes, all evoking a dreamy ambiance designed for ascension to the afterlife.
This record serves not only as a doula for the dying, but also as a celebration of life for the living. Featuring vignettes from his childhood, Soo-Hoo invites listeners into the sacred, serene center of his grandmother’s garden. Delicate windchimes and the faint chirping of sparrows create an immersive environment imbued with childlike wonder and tranquility. Once could die happy here. While reflecting on these portraits of a life well lived, this album does not portray death as a painful event for the dying nor for the living. Ethereal and meditative, A Leisurely Swim To Everlasting Life is the perfect guidebook for floating away into the good death.
- Kalen
