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Deep House: Charles A.D. - Inception (2019)


78 / 100
A strong debut that blends deep house rhythms with textured ambient passages.

After my first attempt at reviewing 6:04’s discography, I’m still a bit unsure where to go next, even though there are many other releases waiting to be covered. My limited knowledge of certain genres is one of the main obstacles to creating varied reviews, so it’s better to focus on areas I can still handle rather than not at all. So, I’ll return to Charles A.D. with another album: Inception.

Inception is both the first album released by Umé Records and the debut full-length from deep house producer Hiroyuki Tanaka, a.k.a. Charles A.D., from Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. It was released on January 31, 2019, and contains eight tracks with a total duration of 46 minutes.

Atmospheric pulses open the journey with a blurred yet dense bass sound that produces strong reverb. There are two main currents of relaxing deep house throughout this album, mainly differentiated by the weight of the drum beats. “Sun-Rising” plays lightly, evoking a morning atmosphere with synthetic birdsong, followed by real nature sounds in “菜の花畑.” Meanwhile, “Peace of Ego” unleashes an impulsive inner heartbeat, painting a picture of outer calm but inner chaos.

The ambient session overall has a slightly rough texture, with added instruments such as cymbals and synthetic robot voices on “Pros and Cons to Everything,” psychedelic synthesizers on “We are All Going to Die,” and flowing water and birdsong field recordings on the closing track “We Have Forgotten.” This makes “Samsara” sound the most plain among the set.

Between these two styles, it’s clear that I prefer the ambient tracks, just as I did with the second album Dry Flower. “We are All Going to Die” and “We Have Forgotten” stand out as the best candidates. Still, this album is recommended for fans of deep house and ambient techno.
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