Song of the Day: beGun - Yoko

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, comes from Barcelona electronic act beGun. "Yoko" is the lead track from beGun's new LP, Amma, out this year on Foehn Records.

beGun - Yoko (MP3)beGun's music has always focused on travel. For the short duration of his emerging career, producer Gunsal Moreno has consistently named singles for cities, venturing out from Barcelona to the corners of the earth. His music thus serves as a perfect backdrop to his travels, soundtracking magnificent sunsets and city skylines with evocative and cerebral electronic music. His new album Amma is his biggest undertaking yet, expanding his horizon from singular cities to the continent of Africa. Everywhere on Amma, there are perfectly juxtaposed feelings of discovery and reservation, namely that concerning the unknown. The mixture of sounds Moreno uses throughout paints a vivid, transforming picture. It's like a moving painting you can get lost in deeper and deeper with each return trip.

"Yoko" kicks the album off with sweeping and transcendent introduction. His album is shaped like the most breathtaking day of exploration you've ever had. Thus, this day needs a sunrise. "Yoko" starts in the dark, not knowing whether it's day or night, with stillness beginning to shake and shift as the world senses that it is time to wake up. As the hook begins to swell and grow, you can see the blue turn to deep orange in the distance as the trees begin to show their colors. And as the energy builds and builds, you feel this rush that there is no turning back and only this chance to embrace the magnificence of the moment. Deeper into Amma, Moreno explores some more exotic and foreign terrain with African samples and sounds. In these songs, he will expand your mind and your horizon to include all sorts of colorful and mind-boggling textures. But with "Yoko", beGun accomplishes a singular goal: the undeniable beauty of new beginnings. With two full swells worth of majesty, "Yoko" makes you want to venture forth into the unknown with unshakable confidence. It's the kind of tune that soundtracks a chance worth taking.

For now, beGun is performing select shows in Central and South America and Europe, but if ever comes Stateside, you'll find out by keeping up with his website and Facebook page. For now, watch the official video for "Yoko" below.