As I resume my near constant search for music, occasionally I come across something different, either a sound or genre I don’t typically seek out, or something new altogether that just speaks to me. This is what happened this month as I stumbled upon the former, an ambient record titled Songs For Dogs To Sleep To by heikadog. 

The 8 song record, released late last year on November 11th, begins with the shortest track at 8 minutes long, called forever, yet not enough. This one, while being the shortest, almost puts me in a trance-like state, with its constant droning atmosphere making it feel like the longest song here. This intensely melancholic, beautiful record has quickly become one of my favorite listens this year; from its hopeful synths piercing through the droning, soft wind-like foreground on a better place, to the bigger than thou, feeling of impermanence most heavily evoked on the song to ashes, this record is an emotional journey you will not soon forget. 

One aspect of the album that really struck a chord with me was the raw use of synths and reverb that elicit emotions deep within me, a quite rare occurrence to me personally, especially with an ambient record. Specifically on the back-to-back tracks a small, discomforting world, and cataclysmic thoughts, with the former feeling almost like the calm before the emotional storm that is cataclysmic thoughts. ‘shibuya’, on the latter half of the record, is a return to the hopefulness found on a better place, in my opinion. The song feels like the clouds parting with the intensely vibrant synths like god rays (the beams of sunlight that shine through parting clouds) sonified. On the final track reverie, I get the feeling of sitting in an isolated space, under the moon and stars, giving a strong sense of resolution at the beginning of the track in a sense. The final note on reverie resolves into the first note on the opener forever, yet not enough, giving the album a cyclical nature. It reminds me in a way of Mac Millers ‘Circles’, which is the only other record I’ve heard that uses this. 

Altogether, Songs For Dogs To Sleep To is sonically beautiful, touching, as well as inspiring. The tracks bleed into one another wonderfully, and the songs on this album will not fail to make you feel, I mean truly feel your emotions.

Stream "Songs For Dogs To Sleep To": distrokid.com/hyperfollow/heikadog/songs-for-dogs-to-sleep-to-ambient-2 

Follow heikadog: twitter.com/heikadog 

Writen By Em Bishoff: twitter.com/emofc_