* 180g 1LP “transparent” lLimited Edition
While Afterglow's music may remind one of city pop or electronic, the term synth-funk probably does the best job here.
Afterglow is the music moniker for local fashion retailer HOAX's owner Julian. Having been involved in the local music scene for years as a guitarist and programmer, Julian has since found his muse in black music. Driven by this newfound passion, his recent music ambitions sees him going back to sounds he grew up with such as Michael Jackson and Prince, to the disco funk of the 70s and 80s, and the "Free Soul" series of Japanese compilations.
"Different Light" is Afterglow's debut album, a music amalgam that takes cues from 80's synth-funk/boogie, electro from Street Sounds, r&b from Tabu, fusion from Herbie Hancock, to the sound of city pop greats such as Toshiki Kadomatsu, Tetsuji Hayashi, and Tatsurō Yamashita. A marriage of synths, thumping basslines, and drum machine grooves, the album also features the vocals of both SOPHY Wong and Yeung Tung. In contrast to what one might expect out of a vaporware aesthetic, the result is rather a pop music infused exploration of funk's past and future.
若形容Afterglow是City-Pop，節拍未免太過強勁；說成是Electronics，卻未能概括其流行元素。Afterglow自稱的Synth-Funk，大概最為貼切。
Afterglow由本地時尚店HOAX主理人Julian化身而成，音樂跟他形影不離，過往在多隊樂隊中擔任結他及programming的角色，近年他選擇從自少喜愛的黑人音樂中尋找靈感，由伴著成長的Michael Jackson、Prince，至70、80年代的Disco、Funk，還有影響他甚深的日本《Free Soul》合輯，兜兜轉轉回歸原點。
《Different Light》是Afterglow首張專集，Julian指是次創音影響非常廣泛，如80年代Synth-Funk/Boogie、Street Sounds廠牌的Electro、Tabu廠牌的R&B，Herbie Hancock的Fusion，還有角松敏生、林哲司、山下達郎等一眾日本City-Pop教父。唱片由流水行雲的Synth貫穿整張每首作品，肥厚的Bassline與躍動的Drum Machine，還找來兩位女歌手SOPHY（王嘉儀）及楊彤（Yeung Tung）獻上美麗歌聲，整體效果卻與典型的Vaporwave大相逕庭，而是探索Funk曲式的昔日與未來，並以Pop的手法去呈現。
