There’s this time right before the dawn breaks and the cacophony of the birds take over. It’s the time of silence. That fragile stillness when everything feels suspended in the quietness. An hour or maximum two, if you stay away from the busy roadside, just before the world wakes up. It’s the time when artists feel their soul pouring through their body into the creation. ‘Breakfast’, an EP of four-short songs by Hong Kong-based Besides feels like the light of aloneness captured from the shadows of loneliness and presented to their listeners for ‘Breakfast’.
Breakfast has a careless elegance like CAS , and adds on to the I-am-still-awake, strechthing arms easy groove to the rhythm. As the season sets for summer, a season of fun & fertility, the song tunes into the heartache. The vocals are effortless and has a rich grief texture from missing ones’ beloved. Guitars drift in and out, never in a hurry, never fully committing to being awake and alive. The opener, Breakfast, wanders into the soundscape of the listeners like n intimate conversation with an invisible stranger.
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“Was it in my hands? Was it in Yours?” The next song is ‘Chocolate’ whose sound is delicious, but lyrics contemplative, very unlike the nature of chocolates. The song is an oxymoron like truth lies. It feels weightless, the vocals hovering just out of reach. With reverb-soaked guitars wash over the song like soft waves on a shore. It’s a song that makes you nostalgic for something intangible, memories that could have been.
‘Observations’ is the third in line and my favourite. This song has the most introspective moments in the EP. “If the story was a heartbreaker, then you know you gotta story to tell.” Sparsely worded yet deeply weighted, it’s the sonic equivalent of realizing you’ve been too deep into the vicious cycle of self-analysis or scrutiny for way too long. The downtempo elements really take the lead, layers of guitar smudge into one another. A melancholic shoegaze number.
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Finally, ‘Lemonade’ arrives like a dream in slow motion, one that missed the train, a conclusion to the delusional night that began with an early grey Breakfast, now slowly dissolving as reality breaks in. Warped synths, delicate percussion, and ethereal vocals form the final exhale before the music fades and the story wraps up. The words are a haze: “So tired of feeling, that day, you said you wanna be free.” The exhaustion of being awake all night clouds both thoughts and emotions.
‘Breakfast’ feels like it just exists, weightless and wandering, waiting for you to step into its quiet orbit. Besides is a Hong Kong-based alternative rock project led by musician David McGinty, known for its atmospheric, minimalist soundscapes. Initially a side project, it embraces spontaneity, using old synths, guitars, and vintage gear to capture unique moments. Blending slacker rock, shoegaze, slowcore, and downtempo, it features musicians from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Indonesia, including Kit Cheung. In 2023, Besides released The Empty Air, a concept album about robots building a home on Mars. Signing with Rexius Records in 2024, the project embarks on a new chapter, sharing its immersive lo-fi sound with a wider audience.
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