新しい日の誕生 is a collaboration album by Hong Kong Express and  t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者. It was released through Dream Catalogue in January of 2015 under the name 2 8 1 4. Hong Kong Express and t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 are owner and co-owner of Dream Catalogue, respectively. After listening to Hong Kong Express and Telepath’s solo releases through Dream Catalogue, it’s not hard to hear their stylistic idiosyncrasies together as 2 8 1 4. Despite anonymity being a driving force in vaporwave, each artist’s contribution is evident on this release. While their individual take on vaporwave may be stylistically different from each other, 2 8 1 4 is an exceptional showcase of both artist’s mastery of their craft.

As with many Dream Catalogue releases, this album is incredibly cinematic. Each track seamlessly fades into the next and thematically carries the ideals and intents of both Hong Kong Express and Telepath. In 2 8 1 4, HKE’s fascination with romance, loneliness, and neon-filled cities share the foreground with Telepath’s themes of transcendence and lucid dreams.

新しい日の誕生 opens in a very grand manner. The first track, “恢复”, begins with a dreary and spacey piano line along with some soft dialogue for cinematic effect. The heavy bass track paired with piano ostinato make for a very melancholy effect. When comparing this track to the first track on Telepath’s 肉体からの離脱, one can hear the textural similarities in the way that he creates ambient dream-like sounds.

One thing I found somewhat humorous was the subtle shout-out to Telepath in the track “テレパシー”. The track title itself translates to “telepathy” whereas the Japanese characters in  t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 translate to “telepath”. This track is certainly the most “telepathic” in style. With the haze of rain-spattered windows and neon lights comes Telepath’s characteristic ambient synth work. In addition to city sounds, sirens, and echoing melodies, there are allusions to video games from time to time: arcade-like sound effects are used to build on the existing texture, evoking a sense of nostalgia. In the last thirty seconds of the track, everything fades out to allow the dialogue from the intro track to continue. This time, however, the female voice is joined by a man’s. Subtly, this rids the listener of a sense of loneliness and instills a bit of hope, building off of the album’s optimistic title, “The birth of a new day”.

新しい日の誕生 is a very creative, expressive, and original album that successfully exhibits the creative works of both collaborative artists. It’s exciting and encouraging to see that vaporwave is moving in such a positive direction. Since a handful of earlier vaporwave albums were mostly sample-based, hearing such a vast collection of original content is invigorating. This album — both historically and musically — is one of vaporwave’s essentials. Coming from a groundbreaking vaporwave label and some of the genre’s most innovative producers 新しい日の誕生 is definitely something to check out.

Favorite Track: 恢复 (Track 1)