9. Souls & All Becomes Okay / Shallou

Buoyant and life affirming, Shallou's two EPs, Souls and All Becomes Okay, found constant spins during my drives and bike rides.  The mid-tempo electro-pop soothed my spirit with its enveloping warmth and aim for the transcendent.  Love, trust, hope, and new beginnings waft over Los Angeles-based Joe Boston's ethereal creations.  His sleight but soulful voice sets him apart from most producers who rarely make personal appearances on their own tracks.

After throwing "Begin" into the middle of my beach side playlist, it proved to be the moment in the mix.  Rizzo popped his head up as the song's glorious groove wound down.  "What is that?" he asked.  "That was nice."  Indeed, it was.  So it begs the question: can music this nice be aesthetically compelling?  Can it be more than feel-good wallpaper?  Can it persist?

As I returned to Shallou over and over, such questions lost relevance because the cinematic optimism continually rendered my doubt obsolete.  Call it ambient, chillwave, EDM-lite, it doesn't really matter.  It seeps into your feels and delivers.  When the gorgeous opening notes of tracks like "Last Day" and "Love" tease into swelling, locked-in rhythms, something special happens, and it is a place you want to visit, repeatedly.