“What kind of music do you like?”
A simple enough question yet one I find stressful to answer. Stressful because I don’t want to be limited in my response or too vague. “All kinds!” seems nearly rude as it doesn’t address the reason behind the question. Besides, I don’t really like all kinds of music.
For a while I had settled on “Challenging” at least in my mind but it felt a tad aggressive once I said it out loud so I remain in search of a more generous answer.
We Carry Eden from Rotterdam-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Hanyo van Oosterom as Son of Chi, released on Music From Memory in May of 2025, reminds me in some ways of Don Cherry’s more exploratory records from the 1970s on including the classic Brown Rice, cross cultural and genre defying music that takes a wider open armed approach than any one genre can contain. Not even ‘World Music’ which strikes me as about as meaningful as “All Kinds.”
We Carry Eden consists of two 21-minute tracks and features Senegalese singer Omar Ka. From the liner notes:
Sonically, the world of ‘We Carry Eden’ is fully immersive; it ripples with depth and shimmers in detail. Motifs, ideas and fragments, arise and disappear like passing thoughts, drawing the listener deeper and deeper inwards.
Deeper and deeper inwards is how We Carry Eden unfolds for me, a meditative trip worth taking.