INFINIZHEN – “Generative Lucid Dreams” (Road Ramos Mix) / “You Can’t Be Trusted”

INFINIZHEN – “Generative Lucid Dreams” (Road Ramos Mix) / “You Can’t Be Trusted” – Singles Review

Sometimes it’s the littlest things that tend to catch your attention…

Not to minimize the BIG SOUND that you’ll find from INFINIZHEN, which is quite compelling all around, but it was actually the tiniest hashtag that first piqued my interest when I was checking out these two singles online.  I had clicked on “Generative Lucid Dreams” (Road Ramos Mix) for my first experience with INFINIZHEN’s music, and there it was – #sendhelp.  That’s listed before an inaccurate description of the music (#AmbientMusic – in what world is this that?) and another tag of #LucidDreams.  In any event, that’s what got me interested…and then reading the subsequent notes on this being a “sonic experience that captures the lucid dram of an unknown and entirely disposable machine” only got me even more curious.  This tactic of supplying information might not work on everyone that’s outside of the liner-notes generation I personally grew up in, but it sure as hell got my attention and had me immediately wondering what INFINIZHEN was all about.  I’m stoked to report that this digitally-cinematic sound lived up to the hype I’d created in my mind surrounding all this mysterious information – “Generative Lucid Dreams” was like a genuine burst of audible atoms designed to act as a collage of colorful sound.  Would I describe it as ambient?  No…but to be fair, I wouldn’t call construction noises that either – as in, just because it’s largely instrumental doesn’t make something ambient, which is generally regarded as a calming or meditative form of music more than anything else.  When you’re this intense like INFINIZHEN is, you’re better off to flex that quality as one of your selling features, as opposed to potentially misleading the audience by mistake.  You’d probably go with something like Digital-Industrial in this particular instance I suppose…that might make enough sense.  That being said, as I’ve mentioned many times here, all genres are bullshit labels anyway – so let your ears be the judge rather than your eyes.  The real bottom line is, I really dig what I hear on “Generative Lucid Dreams” (Road Ramos Mix) – it’s got a frantic and scattered structure and sound to it, but a highly engaging one that can’t help but keep you interested from start to finish.  If anything, at a mere 2:42 in length, I’d have taken a whole lot more of this adventurous Electro-based sound!  If there’s ever been the right complaint to have about anyone’s music, I’m sure that’s gotta be the one…having people want MORE of what you do is always a good thing, ain’t it?  There’s a ton of definition and depth in a cut like this one though…from the angelic vocal samples threaded into the sound along the surface, to the potent punch of the music itself, INFINIZHEN offers you an actual experience that’ll move your mind as opposed to simply listening to another song.

So…I’ll be real with ya…the thought crossed my mind that whatever I might hear next from INFINIZHEN probably wasn’t going to be as cool as that first track I heard – but I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong, and I was.  “You Can’t Be Trusted” is a freakin’ masterpiece if you ask me…and it appears that someone out there did, so there you have it, that’s my take.  For real, it’s one of the best songs that I’ve heard in 2024 without a doubt.  I’m relentlessly impressed by the highly ambitious compositions being created by INFINIZHEN, and I’m equally impressed with the way that this project continually finds the right space for vocals to make an additional impact.  On “Generative Lucid Dreams,” they were more of an afterthought, or played less of a starring role than what you’ll hear on “You Can’t Be Trusted” – but it’s this second cut that’ll have you completely stoked about how the vocals fit in.  Proving to possess an insightful way of creating contrast, you’ll find that the music of “You Can’t Be Trusted” happily moves along at top speed, while the vocals bring a whole other dimension to this song by moving at a much slower pace.  When you combine these two ingredients together, you can’t help but admire how this master mixologist in INFINIZHEN is able to have the kind of vision to generate such an exciting and extraordinary song like this.  I mean, hell – it’s a profound tragedy that we don’t have a whole lot more out there like what you’ll hear in this project…you might find a piece here & there within the scene to compare INFINIZHEN to…maybe something like I See Stars at times, or I’d even listen to an argument that the vocal component can resemble something a lot lighter like Faded Paper Figures…like I said, there are pieces you can cite similarities for, but this project seems to really be doing things in its own unique way, and obviously I dig that.  “You Can’t Be Trusted” shows the powerfully innovative ideas of INFINIZHEN on display, but also highlights how insanely accessible something this wild can actually be with such uniqueness executed so seamlessly.  You’ll find hooks in the intensity of the music once again – but you’ll also notice that the vocals tie this entire track together on a melodic level that simply can’t be beat…the hooks coming outta the microphone are pure perfection, full stop.

So…I suppose the unfortunate news, perhaps, is that no – I won’t be sending any help INFINIZHEN’s way.

This is the kind of project you would never want to impose your will upon, or let the suits and ties of the industry get anywhere close to, in fear that they might try to homogenize this sound and make INFINIZHEN just like everyone else in the Electro-realm.  All you wanna do when you find a project like this with such a glorious combination of skill and talent, is stand back, watch them flourish, and listen.  Left to its own devices, a project like INFINIZHEN is going to continually wow the planet ten times over with its own unique ideas, approach, and sound…this self-described ‘CyberPunk’ vibe hits different for all the right reasons, and I sure hope that we’ll get to hear a whole lot more of it in the future to follow.

Find out more about INFINIZHEN at Tik Tok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@infinizhen

DO NOT READ THIS MESSAGE unless you want to know how you could be the next up on our pages at sleepingbagstudios by clicking here!