The alternative-rock recording artist and singer-songwriter Knox Natural is shattering genre boundaries left and right with his latest 12-track album, 'Child of the Sun.'
If there's one thing you can't count on, it's that Knox Natural will disrupt your expectations of his music and create a welcoming space of poignant experiences. "Thank you for allowing me to decorate your time," says the explorative recording artist. Recently releasing his newest cathartic and dynamic 12-track album, 'Child of the Sun,' let's jump right in.
As we begin traveling through the new album, we're met with the introductory track, "Eternity, Wasting From My Intro," opening with a hazy and psychedelic guitar that soaks our speakers in this mysterious and otherwordly ambiance. We love how Knox Natural chose to open this project; it's like we're strolling through the scorching hot desert on our journey to self-love and expression. This instrumental offers all of that in a tightly wound and lush soundscape that kicks the album into gear with the best vibes possible.
Moving into track number two, "iM HEARiNG VOiCES AGAiN," the song begins with a warm and bright string section that drops into a spacey and modern alternative/hip-hop beat while Knox Natural makes his vocal appearance in the form of a spirited and confident rap. Knox Natural then begins to paint all sorts of passionate and sensual scenes in our minds with his lustful lyricism. This song is an incredibly unique ballad, and Knox Natural's vocal effects and tone are like a more psychedelic and lush version of Gorillaz. As he closes the track, Knox Natural says all he can think about is "the undoing."
Following this train of thought is the project's third track, "the UNDOING," which opens with another spacey and deeply atmospheric sonic tone alongside Knox Natural's soft and distant vocals. This song is wildly reflective; Knox Natural brings this message of introspection and self-examination that touches on themes of existence, feeling unhuman, and wondering what the future holds. What we love about Knox Natural's album thus far is his musical unpredictability. While this song opened like a spacey and wavy sonic cloud, he ends the track on a lifted alt-rock note.
Upping the vibe with the fourth track, "Breathe Me, Green!," the song kicks off with a funky and lifted guitar and Knox Natural's filtered, vibrant vocals. As he begins to wash our speakers in a lighthearted and upbeat drum arrangement, Knox Natural takes us into lush yet haunting scenes keeping himself locked into someone's mossy green and static embrace while wondering where that relationship is headed. Knox Natural has such a talented way of bringing vast authenticity in both his lyricism and sonics, especially in this dynamic, passionate tune.
Reaching track number five, entitled "Lady Luh Interlude (Colour Flood)," the song's title is exactly what it sounds like; a sonic flood of colors. Knox Natural opens this one-minute interlude with unique percussion arrangements and his hazy flow that's backed by spacey and celestial synths. While Knox Natural's vocals serenade us from the background and his sooting rap sits in the foreground, he transports us into the album's second half with help from the delightful production and sonics.
Landing on the album's halfway point with "Heart-Tied Stone," Knox Natural floods our speakers with this jazzy ambiance through his slow percussion, soft acoustic guitar, and smooth sci-fi synths. We love the blend of organic jazz and modern electronic that Knox Natural offers in this spacey midway point; he keeps our ears locked into this soothing and soulful instrumental by absolutely hypnotizing us with his unique arrangements and dynamic sonics. As he closes the song with a gentle keyboard melody, he kicks the album's second act into gear.
Onto track number seven, "Sweet Someone (Linger Longer)," this song peacefully opens with a reverbed and distant west-coast-like lead guitar and Knox Natural's gentle filtered vocals. As he begins to wish for someone's presence to stay around a while longer, the song's percussion begins to tap through our speakers and take us into this refreshing and bright sonic space. We appreciate how Knox Natural keeps us on our toes throughout the entire album thus far; we totally didn't expect this delicate alt-rock piece from an album that's leaned so much towards modern electronic and organic jazz.
Opening the eighth track, "doyouliveforthis?," is a soft and emotional lead guitar that plucks its way to our hearts. Listening to Knox Natural's distant, emotional, and heartfelt vocal appearance, he sings one of the most vulnerable messages we've heard on the album so far. While wondering if his lover is as dedicated to their relationship as he is, Knox Natural unleashes those lingering and heart-crushing thoughts overtop of the most emotional and tender alt-rock instrumentation through a saddened string section and a sole electric guitar. This might have been one of our favorite songs from the album.
Continuing the same introspective and emotional tone with the ninth track, "Immenintly Intertwined...," this song opens on a different note as Knox Natural vocalizes his tender emotions with the utmost clarity and heart. While accompanied by a melancholy piano melody, Knox Natural begins to sing of not needing someone who he's fallen in love with, wishing they would leave him alone once and for all. There are short and infrequent bursts of a crunchy electric guitar throughout the two-minute song that emphasize Knox Natural's raw and relatable emotion.
As they were once "Immentently Intertwined..." they were also "..Decadently Detached," the tenth song that opens with a sharp electronic synth and Knox Natural's haunting harmonies alongside a slow, warm, and silky drum pattern. This song is another deftly relatable track that sings of moving away from someone's love but feeling unable to move towards any other truth that isn't his lover. Knox Natural offers his soulful and haunting performance that chills us to the bone alongside a dark, plucky bassline that leads into the instrumental outro, washing our speakers in a vibrant array of sounds and melodies.
Moving onto the eleventh piece, "WANDERLUV," this song opens like a breath of fresh air through the brightest acoustic guitar melodies and short hip-hop hi-hats that up the vibe into a more pleasant and happy space. This song is another lush and smooth instrumental that helps us better understand Knox Natural's sonic capabilities. Once again, he's surpassed and defied all expectations through his unique, hypnotic, and soulful arrangements that ooze in psychedelia and love. An airy-like synth waves through our speakers towards the song's end like a portal into the album's final track.
Reaching the album's outro track with "!DON'T WAIT!" we're greeted with a heavy rhythm guitar that smacks us with a nostalgic and gripping riff alongside spacey and celestial synths. This is another hypnotic and chilling instrumental that perfectly closes the album through each airy drum break, wavy guitar arrangement, and meditative synth. What's great about this track is how Knox Natural takes his time to paint such complex sonic scenes while closing the experience with a long fade-out, perfectly resembling a warm sunset at the end of our journey.
Shatter your expectations of Knox Natural with his latest explorative, emotional, and psychedelic 12-track album, 'Child of the Sun,' now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Knox Natural. Congratulations on releasing your poignant and dynamic new album, 'Child of the Sun.' What inspired the creation of this cathartic and hypnotic album?
Hi, thank you so much for your time! All the things I see that no one else can see prompted me through a purely creative process that allowed me to develop such an eclectic sonic experience. As a defiant musician, I love what makes me feel something novel, that feeling of oblivion you get when you hear a track like nothing else you have experienced. I appreciate those moments where we're drawn into something bigger that also still reflects back to us; I try to create what is transcendental. This album collectively curates an intensely novel and personal atmosphere for poignant experience, somewhere to be disrupted from your default state of expectations, simultaneously unlearning and all-creating.
What was your creative process like for the tracks on 'Child of the Sun?' Did you begin creating each song a certain way, or was it a little more complex than that?
A bit more complex I would say! I actually created, wrote, played, recorded, performed, and produced this album entirely by myself, in about two months. So in order to bring my vision for this soundscape into fruition, I was intentional "every day" about it, developing ideas and running with them, stumbling and not reaching a dynamic enough sound, and then try it again and again. The process felt like trying to capture and hone chaos, like moving in synchrony with a wind storm. I create these tracks with a few elements: some wordplay in a journal entry, several flows/rhythms of various instrumentation I've been developing, and a tireless spirit to disrupt our listening expectations and make a track like nothing I've ever heard.
Is there a specific track on 'Child of the Sun' that was the most difficult to create in terms of emotions?
Oof, I would say it was the raw acoustic track 'doyouliveforthis?' This track is an intimate conversation between self and lover (often so perfectly reflecting the same perspective), accosting me where I am right now in my life, prompting me to recognize just how far I have come, and begging me to confidently lean into what I am presently unaware I am even capable of doing. It is me choosing to live for everything that pulls me forward, through process, pain, and poise, into the future version of me around the bend. As a reflective surface for the listener, it calls us to sit with our own gravity, in the truths of our life direction, so that we can move confidently forward each day living for something we are equally certain and uncertain we feel is calling us.
What impact do you hope to make on your audience with 'Child of the Sun'? What do you want your listeners to feel and take away?
First off, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EACH PERSON WHO INTERACTS WITH ME AND MY CREATIONS. I hope that my album leads you through several poignant and novel experiences, disrupting your expectations at each intersection of genre and stylistics. I wish for my listeners to feel their own multiplicity and undefinable perfection throughout my eclectic and uncanny soundscapes. I wish for y'all to (peacefully and/or chaotically) disappear somewhere into your minds to return with a perspective you had not yet synthesized. I really believe we are mirrors for each other, and I hope you see yourself reflected in every chaos, in every beautiful thing, and in our collective space of experience, which I often call 'the OVERWHELMING'!
What does 'Child of the Sun' mean to you? In comparison with your previous albums, how does this one stand out?
My debut album! She is my baby! My element! I am equally proud of and astonished by my growth as a creative. I have made several experimental tapes before, but this is certainly my largest collective vision and creation. It embodies me in my multiplicity; it is individual, defiant, tender, soulful, irreverent, ascendant, sultry, buoyant, intense. All throughout this album process, I realized my inertia, made constant breakthroughs, struggled and felt inept and juvenile, gathered and grounded myself to continue pushing into what I felt was out there for me. So this album feels like being at ease with change, with what is natural, and realizing all the energy I have pushing me to step confidently into my next self. Each day anew, sunset and also a sunrise.