With “Island Lantern Festival”, Tony Frissore manages to soundtrack a specific kind of mental vacation I didn’t realize I was overdue for taking. Ostensibly an instrumental nod to the Lunar New Year and the hopefulness of renewal, this piece operates less like a celebration and more like a gentle exhalation.
It starts wet with the actual crash of ocean waves before slowly drifting inland. I love how Frissore doesn’t shy away from the grittier textures of the world; the serenity of the water gives way to the hum of traffic and the murmur of crowds, yet the calm remains.
The melody, built on a clean, rhythmic chord loop, acts as a sort of shield against that urban noise. With his background in the vibrant scenes of Boston and New Orleans, Frissore grounds the track in a funk-adjacent solidity that simple chillhop often lacks.
The result feels like walking through a busy intersection in slow motion while everyone else is rushing. It balances solitude with the chaotic evidence of life happening all around you. If a fresh start sounds this breezy, why are we all seemingly holding our breath?
