Hilang Child - Years (2018)

The special thrill of hearing an artist grow into their voice is emphatically served by the debut album from Ed Riman, the half-Welsh, half-Indonesian, London-based singer-songwriter and sound-scapist who records as Hilang Child. Released through Bella Union in August, Years radiates a rich sense of self-discovery in its lush, textured layers of sound and feeling. Between its blossoming choruses, multi-tracked harmonies and loose theme of embracing adulthood, it's an epiphanic debut from an artist not just fulfilling his early promise but reaching far beyond it. Hilang Child's gorgeous earlier tracks met with due acclaim, but Years is a great leap of faith for Riman. Looking back on his formative recordings as learning experiences, Riman says they taught him to trust his own talent over the lures of a "nice studio" and "fancy gear".
"I was always more excited about my home demos, recorded on a laptop, than the final recordings. I learnt that the only way I could convey the sound I wanted was by producing it myself, despite having little knowledge or ability in production." That sense of self-revelation rings out clearly on the opener, "I Wrote a Letter Home", Riman's tender voice exhaling ecstatically over warm keys and blooming synth-scapes. "Growing Things" meditates on the gap between youth and adulthood over flickering beats, celestial synths and music-box tinkles, its zero-gravity melody unfolding gracefully. "Sleepwalk" dwells on self-doubt over nagging electronics, before Riman offloads his anxieties with a cathartic promise to himself: "This darkening down inside ends tonight." "Starlight, Tender Blue" layers booming synths and levitating voices emotively; the beautiful "Rot", meanwhile, reflects a faith in a "better tomorrow" with a yearning serenity.

Tracklist:

01. I Wrote A Letter Home 03:00
02. Growing Things
03. Sleepwalk
04. Boy
05. Starlight, Tender Blue
06. Rot
07. Oh, We're Getting Along
08. Endless String
09. Crow
10. Ilissohr