Synth EP Review: “Dreamshore” by CODE 89

by Karl Magi

CODE 89’s “Dreamshore” paints a series of vivid synthscapes with complex tones intermingling to create peaceful contemplation, delicate drifting and movement through tranquil waters. The music is a journey that sweeps me up and carries me away.

“Arrival” opens with a gently echoing tonal pulse and wind sweeps along with undulating bass to weave a strong underpinning. The varied percussion ticks while the drums snap cleanly and a slowly trembling synth floats with a sense of detached smoothness. The rhythm adds guidance while shimmering notes evoke the light of a faraway galaxy and the richness below rolls through.

Razor-sharp tones cut into the music while the glimmering synth casts its cosmic rays through the soundscape. As the luscious bass rumbles, the percussive rhythm adds dynamism. Soothing vocal sounds move into the music, cut into by the percussion, while I flow along with the solar wind. The lead synth reaches out with soothing elegance to touch my ears and the tumbling underlayer creates a sense of deep space. The drums drop away as the track fades into quiet.

A rising bass tide moves with an undulating synth that glistens like a bioluminescent ocean to start “On The Sea”. Bright notes dance before the rhythm launches with confident motion, like a boat borne on a fresh wind. The main melody is carried on a brilliantly bending synth, washing out with encouragement and effervescent lightness.

As the propulsive underpinnings move forward, the drums collide and fade. Fragile arpeggios hang like sunlit mist above the deep currents below, breaking and trembling. A sense of new horizons and exciting voyages permeates me while the underlayer drives with unstoppable motion.

Arpeggiating notes shine like sunlight on whitecaps as the main melody returns again, capturing memory and excitement with its scintillating luminosity. The lead synth exudes free-flowing excitement as the track closes out.

“105 Meters” Begins with becalmed tones above a slowly oscillating underlayer. The background shifts like a diver slowly sinking below blue waters, effervescent sounds sparkling like bubbles rising. The percussive heartbeat is full of oceanic strength as it flows and the background sounds gleam like undersea sunlight.

A delicate melody brushes like seaweed tendrils while the music carries me along on its lithe flow. I feel transported and relaxed as the distantly shining notes flash like tiny fish in quicksilver motion. Echoing vocal sounds float as the rhythm continues to guide the music. Fragile notes dance like sunbeams filtering through water while the heavy underpinnings shift. Chimes flicker like more bubbles rising before silence falls.

Smoothly throbbing drums move with a steady rhythm while cerulean tones drift above dense bass to kick off “Deep Dance”. The percussion slips as a whispering voice exhales while the synth moves like warm water through a tropical bay. Crackling sounds roam through the expansive soundscape, the drums adding form while notes rise and fall like divers in a water column, obeying a gentle tidal pull.

I imagine diffuse light filtering down through the depths as I move weightlessly, forever floating. Gigantic foundations rumble while a digital-sounding synth oscillates and whispering vocals slide with gauzy softness. There’s an appealing contrast between crushing weight and free-floating energy while piano notes twinkle with aquamarine elegance. The rhythmic underpinnings press on while the hollow-sounding synth broadcasts a shadowy tone before the track exhales with tranquility.

“Moon” commences with vaguely ominous, circling tones and a heavily undulating low end heartbeat. A kick drum adds a slow thud while the synth shifts with cosmic distance, moving above the heavy bass. Metallic notes glitter like a canopy of stars while the synth flows as though freed from gravity, and the rhythm accelerates into a propulsive charge.

Ethereal chord changes hover above the tripping beat as urgency increases. After a momentary pause, the drumbeat returns with a half-speed pulse while tones illuminate the darkness around them like far-off planets. I feel myself carried through the universe in a mixture of peaceful meditation and shadowed emotion. As the track ends, wobbling sounds glide past like distant comets and the beat rushes forward until silence finally falls.