Next up in our cinematic soundtrack double-feature (the first being Porcelain’s ‘Last Word’), the strange glimmer of Mieko Shimizu. It’s at the opposite end of the same DNA, of retro electronic futuristic. Where the last took a slow-groove dystopian tack, ‘Lazy Light’ plays with neons and movement.

These soundscapes are thinner, with the subtle synth dreamwave of Washed Out and Teen Daze and off-kilter pinched punctuations. Squeezed out guitar squeals tiptoe on shoegaze, there’s a rounded throwback 80s bass line. And the same airy vocals that broke ‘Last Word’ into sections are ‘Lazy Light’s primary feature.

It’s a drift, as the title suggests, but movements here twist with an angular motion that jerk the song towards new directions. Hazy crescendos settle down into moments that float and glide into the next. It’s as mournful as it is optimistic, the last sun-drugged glaze of an evening.

The video that accompanies is abstract and smooth; outlines of dancers cut through slow motion smoke as we flick between pastels and sepia. In a moodboard of colour and play, we see the scope of the song to tie into end credits, or dreamscapes or fears, just as clear and as wide as ‘Last Word’s. These two songs could be flipsides or slow mixtape sisters, they belong on the same compilation.

Once more, for both music and video, it’s the pristine production that shines. Painting a mood at the speed of fine dust to get lost in or at least involved with.

It’s a comparison neither band asked for, but they came in so close and both tied in so well, it was tough not to join them together.    

‘Lazy Light’ is out now, catch the video below. And find this track and others from reviewed/featured artists right here on Rats On Run Radio.