"What a Blur"

2017 was a very special year for me for a multitude of reasons, but of course one of the biggest was all the new music I discovered at the time. As I spent most of my teenage years focusing solely on academia, it was here when I began paying more attention to new sounds whilst also preparing for the looming entrance exams for Uni in 2018. Everyone must’ve had a phase of exploring new music through Youtube at some point, so it was a given that I’d end up dipping my toes in the ‘Youtube recommended-core” group of artists around this time. Many I haven’t listened to since, but one or two occasionally pop back up in my mind from my memories which instigates a revisit of nostalgia to their music.

In the past few years one artist, however, never really strayed too far back into my past because I was always anticipating their next release: Fazerdaze released their first album Morningside in 2017, which I absolutely LOVED and was incredibly excited for what they’d release next. As time went on I’d always check back to see if they’d released any new music, but in the 5 years since there was mostly silence. I was aware of the realities of making music so I was mindful of how they must be busy with other matters, hence my excitement was even greater when I learnt of them releasing a new EP this year. I finally got around to giving it a listen today, and it’s been the most refreshing continuation of 2017 memories I’ve experienced in a while. I say ‘continuation’ and not ‘revisiting’ because the music itself presents itself as an outspoken step forward, proudly and effortlessly picking up where the last album left off. This bright impression left upon me fundamentally influences my response to it, as the experience of listening to these songs feels like it provides an anchor to my past memories whilst sowing the seeds of new memories too. 

I felt compelled to write about this particular artist after I’d listened to the final song on the EP, 'Overthink It', many times on repeat for the past hour. The way in which the vocals at the forefront and background intertwine towards the end, speaking over each other as often as they construct the lyrics of the final chorus together, captures that same memorable artistic identity that I became familiar with 5 years ago through Morningside. Art that makes it even more joyous to be caught up in reminiscence of memories will never fail to put a smile on my face, and at times like this I can’t help but want to put that feeling into words. 

Outside of this experience: the past month has been somewhat turbulent. More uncharted territory has been navigated, and I feel like I’ve learnt lots from the events that have transpired during this time.

I was ill for two weeks between 24th October-6th November. I have NEVER been ill for this long, and it wasn’t Covid so I was unlucky enough to be hit with the worst flu I’d ever had. In this time I managed to finish Lost Judgement (yeah, I seem to have mainly just played RGG studios games in the past year and a half), which made the time off my studies incredibly fun and distracted me from all the work I had missed as a result. Perhaps it was my dizzy, yet unclouded, focus that allowed me to get back into the swing of the combat and surpass the skill level I’d reached with the first game: I found myself enjoying the challenges of the hard difficulty mode by naturally getting in tune with the mechanics of the combat’s workings, to the extent that even after finishing the game I still feel that ache to dive back in for the sake of fighting the bosses again. 

I also found the time to finish the Kaito Files DLC story afterwards, which was much shorter but surprisingly relatable: Kaito may very well be one of my favourite RGG Studios characters now (with Ichiban still being number one, of course). The final boss fight was bizarre at first, but the more I reflect on it, the more sense it makes: the story couldn’t really have ended any other way. 

Overall: definitely play Judgement and Lost Judgement. 

I’ve also been playing Sonic Frontiers and it’s been enjoyable! I haven’t spoken much of my nostalgia for Sonic here on the blog, but the game definitely revitalised the enthusiasm for the series that was a constant in my life when I was younger. The final boss theme is also exceptional in how well it complements the intentions of the antagonist. 

After the winter holidays, I’ll have a multitude of clinical and written examinations, which I still have lots to revise in preparation for. In the meantime: the last two weeks will prove to be enjoyable simply because I can’t help but get sentimental over another winter coming to pass. It’s my birthday at the end of the month, too! I wonder who I’ll be celebrating it with.