Rochester native Agathya Visveswaran, a.k.a. Agaaze, made his auspicious debut four years ago with the album “A Portal Inside.” For his third release “Cherry Town,” released Feb. 14, Visveswaran is back with more electronic-leaning grooves, this time mastered by Adam “Yukon” Harr — a Grammy-winning engineer whose credits include music by Pharrell and Bruno Mars.
Visveswaran’s greatest talent lies in his ability to establish moods the listener can drop into and live in before shifting to drastically different tempos and textures without losing a step. In other words, he makes musical non sequiturs appear as smooth transitions.
“Dear Mildred” has a laidback vibe, in which blurry rhythms create a tripped-out, slightly chaotic feel, particularly when the haziness gives way to a manic hip-hop beat. “Jewel Thief” combines stoner funk with boom-bap aesthetics and rap vocals.
The video game-inspired blips and bloops in the surf tune “Run Free” provide plenty of ‘90s nostalgia. The summertime ambiance, which drifts in and out of the collection, persists on “Token Clown,” with its floating vocal melody and delectable rhythm guitar hook.
As the tracks progress, the musical twists and turns become more unpredictable, even inconsistent on occasion. “Mrs. Buttercup” is pleasant, if nonsensical, but it doesn’t hold up to more robust ideas elsewhere. The conjoined “FreezeFall” and “Echoes,” which immediately follow, feature the tastiest guitar hooks on the album. And the transition from fuzzed-out funk to club music is a feast for the ears.
As a cohesive listen in one sitting, “Cherry Town” is incredibly effective as background music suitable for studying, a low-key party or comfy lounging. But, as ever, Agaaze rewards listeners who are paying close attention. The rich, kaleidoscopic timbres of the album’s instrumentation are what make the excursion to “Cherry Town” so enjoyable.
Daniel Kushner is a contributor to CITY.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
