Daiana Feuer on July 11th, 2017

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Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith‘s world of synthesized sound is rooted in a reverence of nature. Having grown up on Orcas Island in the northwest region of Washington state, Smith translates the sounds and feelings of being outside through her manipulation of machines. “An Intention” feels like bubbles, wind, bellowing sea animals, and ships coming in to the shore. The tempo and woosh of nature is palpable in the way the electronic sounds come together on the song.

Smith follows up a collaborative album with electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani and last year’s debut album, “Ears,” with “The Kid,” out Oct. 6 on Western Vinyl. The album chronicles the span of life—birth, self-awareness, harnessing identity, old age and death—through thoughtful, soothing, exploratory compositions. It’s an experiential record, with 13 songs spanning the double-album. Crossing genres, Smith combines ambient temperament, space-age electronica and some pretty far-out otherworldly soundscapes to create something unique and soothing that engages the mind as much as it relaxes thought.

||| Stream: “An Intention”

||| Previously: Ears Wide Open