Alice Okada is a new electronic musician from Portland, Oregon. She just put out her first full piece, “Chapter One: The Beach Episode.” She made a professional collection of six songs that communicate a tale without using many words while working from her own bedroom. Alice’s music is courageous and fresh because she exploits her own experiences with mental health recovery and unusual medical procedures. We can hear and feel that healing is possible in her music, which goes from feeling confined inside to finding the wide-open space of the sea.
The first song, “Mice in My Walls,” uses a very complex and intricate manner to convey how it feels to be trapped in a small room. Alice doesn’t sing; instead, she makes clicking sounds and tiny beats that sound like a clock or a computer processor ticking quickly. This tune is like a study of an agitated mind; it puts all those little noises that get in the way into a distinct pattern. The essential point here is that we can learn to hear the “noise” in our thoughts without becoming offended and turn it into art.
Mice in My Walls
The song “Murderer” comes next, and it changes the album’s sound to a much sharper and colder electronic one. The hefty, continuous pace of this song does all the talking, so it doesn’t need words to feel strong. It shows that someone is consciously ending an old version of themself to make place for a better one. This song is very straight and serious, and it moves quickly, emphasizing that becoming a new person is a strong and important thing to do.
In “Dancing with the Dead,” the mood gets a lot lighter and more airy. The electronic beats here sound like they’re floating or flowing in a slow, elegant circle. The song is about things we’ve lost, yet it doesn’t make us sad; it feels like a rhythmic recollection that stays with us. It implies that our past gives our lives now a constant beat. This song teaches us how we can stay in touch with our history while also moving forward in the present.
The music gets more textured and “gritty” in “Muddied Shoes.” It uses sounds that sound like they have dirt or sand on them. This song shows the “messy” part of being human by slowly adding layers and complicated electronic sounds. It honors the idea that a life well-lived will naturally have some flaws and stains. The main idea of this song is that there is actual beauty in the hard work and “mud” we acquire as we work toward our goals.
Muddied Shoes
“Watering Dirt” has a radically different, more patient technique. The sounds in this song are simple and repeat over and over again, just like taking care of something that hasn’t developed yet. It is a sound that shows what it means to have trust in a gradual process. The music is about the calm work of taking care of a garden even when there aren’t any flowers. It shows us that the effort is important and that staying on track is a win, even when things are quiet.
“Dreams Of Oceans Beyond Eyesight” is the last song on the album. It uses vast, “ambient” sounds to make the listener feel like they are floating. The computer beats ebb away in this last song, leaving behind a smooth, weightless sound that sounds like the water. It tells us to forget about the things around us and find calm in our minds. Alice Okada teaches us that music may give us a sense of unlimited freedom by traveling from the “walls” of the first song to the “ocean” of the last.
In the end, “Chapter One: The Beach Episode” is a daring and beautiful look at how we heal and evolve. Alice Okada has taken us on a journey that begins in a small, loud room and ends at the edge of a calm, never-ending sea. She shows that we can all find serenity by merely listening to music instead of speech. This album makes us feel like we’re standing on the beach, waiting to see where this great artist will lead us next.
For more, follow Alice Okada on Spotify