Sim Nagai Up North

Belgian producer Sim Nagai continues his sonic wanderlust with Up North, a fifteen-track escapade that masterfully brings together vintage aesthetics and contemporary beat craftsmanship. His third album for Cold Busted, this collection flows like a half-remembered dream through landscapes familiar and strange, proving his quick ascent in the downtempo scene was no accident.

Among the highlights is "Love Explosion," where ringing melodies cascade over booming drum fills like summer rain on a tin roof. A siren's voice emerges through psychedelic flourishes, while snatches of turntable wizardry add complexity to the not-so-quiet storm. "Childhood Years” is another highlight, with its twinkling keyboards and jazzy boom-bap rhythm creating a river of memory that carries listeners downstream through moments of captured youth. The middle section shines particularly bright with "Your Smile," as jazz guitar and Rhodes keys transport listeners to a velvet-draped lounge where tomorrow's classics transform into shimmering funkiness. "Mystery Girl" arrives like a twisty ghost from the '80s dance-pop realm, its vocal hook "Girl I can't beat this mystery" echoing through time. "Another Summer With You" rounds out the highlights with dreamy filtering and indie-inspired guitar riffs, feeling like a midnight cruise in a neon-lit dreamscape.



Throughout Up North, Nagai demonstrates his gift for musical moments that buzz between nostalgia and newness, creating spaces where memory and imagination groove to the perfect beat. Go north, my friend!