Heavensouls Releases Cantu of the Sower
Music producer and 20-year-old computer science and fashion design student Chidi Obialo, who records under the moniker heavensouls, has released a new album-length EP titled cantu of the sower. The project merges intricate musical layers into a collage of sounds, combining free jazz logic with microsounds and conservatory-style string and horn arrangements.
The nearly nine-minute track today is my favorite
anchors the release, featuring a dense arrangement of rippling gasps, drums, strings, a saxophone, a vaguely Latin guitar, and a voice sample discussing getting her hair done. Obialo shapes the track by modulating audio layers and weaving rhythms together before concluding with a slow, jangly fadeout. The release follows his previous work, including the project Darkskin Niggas With Lightskin Problems with his duo the Sidepeices, and the beat-tribute release westside trapped.
Background and Musical Influences of Chidi Obialo
Obialo has lived a peripatetic life, growing up in Nigeria, being unhoused at one point, and later relocating to the suburbs, where he became hyperliterate in niche genres via internet forums. His compositions reflect this background by translating digital and physical rabbit holes into structured sound design. His style is compared to the plinky pastoralism of upsammy, but with a sonic intensity designed to soothe and stimulate simultaneously.
Tracklist and Compositional Structure
The new EP merges multiple internet micro-genres and experimental electronic traditions into a unified listening experience. The tracks follow autobiographical threads that convey the private experiences and anxieties of communities, including Venezuelan teens pining for a better future, alienated queer kids, or young Black friends.
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