Teen Blush gives a phenomenal introduction to his hypnotic new wave creations on his debut It Is A Pleasure To Be Here EP. Under that moniker Chicago-based musician Ken Foss creates the kind of resoundingly intimate and danceable tracks that can only be described as overwrought but ecstatic. Across the four songs on It Is A Pleasure To Be Here, his first released via the label Everything Forever, he gives a highlight reel of some of his most dramatic and oscillating sounds.
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There’s the EP opener “Turning” which bathes you in dark sonics and the feverish delirium of Foss’ forlorn wails, while the heady blitz of blipping electronica on “Other Faces” edges forward until it starts sprinting atop gleaming synth flourishes. Both are dually haunting as they are soul-igniting, but waxing romance amidst moodily melancholic conjurings is just one of the many sides of Teen Blush’s intoxicating sound.
On the dreamy “Delight,” he slows down the anxious rushes to a drawling stroll, letting the robust twinkle of synths and electric riffs fill the bespeckled darkness like shooting stars. Then there’s the frantically droning and bass-walloping “Car Crash,” the kind of danceable club-bumper that edges tirelessly toward an agitated climax that never comes but just fades.
After giving a run-through of It Is A Pleasure To Be Here be sure to check out Teen Blush’s other releases, including last year’s singles “Golden Hour” and “Ghost.” But that’s by no means the only music the highly prolific Foss has put out in recent years. His Soundcloud is also a deep dive into the spacious, emotionally saturated, and mesmerizing soundscapes that are foundational to Teen Blush’s sound.
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Words by Steven Ward
Listen to Teen Blush’s new It Is A Pleasure To Be Here EP below!
