Sylvaine, the project led by multi-instrumentalist Kathrine Shepard, is now streaming their beautifully melancholic epic "Mono No Aware" alongside an equally-entrancing visualizer by Guilherme Henriques. "Mono No Aware" is just under 10 minutes long, though you'd never notice if you didn't look given the captivating ebbs and flows of the song.
"The moment when you appreciate the beauty of our human existence and what lies within it being completely transient, yet feeling overcome by sadness for the exact same reason, that is 'Mono No Aware.' Every Sylvaine record holds one song title that can't be directly translated into English, and this time I felt the melancholy and depth of the Japanese saying 'mono no aware' fit perfectly with the emotions that went into creating this record.
"Existing somewhere between nostalgia, a yearning for things lost and past times and a respect for the ephemeral nature of things, 'Mono No Aware' basically deals with how hard it is to accept that the only constant in our existence is change. Being one of the heaviest tracks I wrote to date, "Mono No Aware" is filled with intensity in every way, pushing the borders of light and dark even further. This song also holds some of my favorite lyrics of the album; 'You need to fade away, so I can truly see you. Show me the meaning of being alive – Fading, I see you now.'"
Sylvaine will release Nova on March 4. Pre-orders are available here and here on Bandcamp, and you can follow Sylvaine here on all streaming services.
