Birth of a New Day

Birth of a New Day
A panoramic landscape of a cyberpunk city.
Default cover art
Studio album by
2814
ReleasedJanuary 21, 2015 (2015-01-21)
Recorded2014
Genres
Length67:25
LanguagesJapanese, Chinese
LabelDream Catalogue
Producers
2814 chronology
2814
(2014)		 Birth of a New Day
(2015)		 Rain Temple
(2016)
Alternative cover
The first frame of the animated cover art

Birth of a New Day (Japanese: 新しい日の誕生, romanized: Atarashī Hi no Tanjō) is the second studio album by English-American electronic music duo 2814, released on January 21, 2015 by Dream Catalogue. With the popularity of vaporwave in the early to mid-2010s, producers David Russo and Luke Laurila experimented with the genre by not using any form of samples to compose the album, which portrays a futuristic East Asian metropolis inspired by cities such as Hong Kong and Tokyo. 2814 produced the record through a back-and-forth process, with either one of them finishing the mastering process, and its artwork was created by Argentinian visual designer Gustavo Torres under the alias Kidmograph. The album drew comparisons to the works of musicians Oneohtrix Point Never and Kavinsky, while its production was influenced by ambient artists including Boards of Canada and the films of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai.

Initially launched on CD only, Birth of a New Day was later repressed on vinyl and cassette with help from an Indiegogo campaign. The album was praised by critics for its immersive soundscape and the combination of each artist's style. It was the breakthrough album of Dream Catalogue and also the first physical release of the label; it is one of the most popular releases associated with the vaporwave genre, as well as one of the most positively received. The record is described as a "cult classic" by an AllMusic editor and as a catalyst of the dreampunk genre by the duo.

Background

In 2014, English electronic musician David Russo adopted the pseudonym Hong Kong Express, under which he released several dreampunk albums that conveyed the ambience of East Asian metropolitan cities such as Hong Kong and Tokyo.[1] He was inspired by the films of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai, such as Chungking Express (1994), Fallen Angels (1995) and In the Mood for Love (2000), and was drawn to vaporwave's concepts of nostalgia, futurism, mystery, surrealism, nostalgia and what he called Pavlovian visuals.[1][2] Russo's first records, such as 2047 (2014), presented his music in a more lo-fi way, with little to no mastering applied. He felt musicians Luxury Elite and Burial already perfectly explored American and British cityscapes in their music respectively, and was more influenced by the metropolitan culture of Hong Kong in his own work, despite never having travelled to Asia himself.[1] By the end of 2014, his third album HK saw the Hong Kong Express alias gaining a wider popularity, and was described by Russo as his favorite release from the project for being completely sample-free.[2] Describing it as his most similar solo album to Birth of a New Day, Russo stated it has a much more minimal approach, and presents a more subtle and melancholic tone.[3]

Telepath, the pseudonym of American vaporwave musician Luke Laurila, was previously known for his work using samples of pop ballads to develop the slushwave subgenre; in 2025, he said the first "definitive" slushwave work ever created was "Betrayal" (裏切り, Uragiri), a track from the 2013 split album Nightlife with musician Silver Richards. His albums explored themes such as nostalgia, spirituality and romance, as heard in his 2014 release Dreamland (夢の国, Yume no kuni).[4][5] He was considered the greatest vaporwave artist by Russo himself, who already listened to his music since at least 2014, and later added him as a co-owner of Dream Catalogue, his record label.[2]

Russo and Laurila eventually met on the music streaming platform SoundCloud, and Laurila released Interstellar Love (2013), his split album with musician Vincent Remember, on Dream Catalogue.[1] Laurila had also collaborated with Russo on the four-hour-long collaborative project Fragmented Memories (2014), where some tracks were already credited to the 2814 alias, and released the pseudonym's self-titled debut album in 2014 with the stated goal of creating a sample-free vaporwave album. Russo stated that Birth of a New Day would refine the strengths of their debut, as both he and Laurila felt they "have topped the first". Despite highlighting the album as 2814's last release, Russo later collaborated with Laurila under the alias again in 2016's Rain Temple.[2]

Music and themes

In the words of Russo, Birth of a New Day is an album meant to "have a strong sense of place" and create a futuristic world that is open to interpretation,[3] exploring genres such as ambient, dreampunk, downtempo and vaporwave.[6][4][7] Simon Chandler of Bandcamp Daily felt the album brought a chillwave influence with its "spellbinding ambiance", while Beats Per Minute's John Wohlmacher described its futurustic, utopian mood as an adaptation of Burial's style.[8][9][10] Its slow-paced tracks also drew comparisons to 1982 film Blade Runner; Paul Simpson of AllMusic said the album approached the style of the film's score and ambient techno from the 1990s in its "more spiritual, emotionally intense" results, instead of vaporwave's Muzak influence, while Tristan Bath of The Quietus likened its sound effects of public transportation, rain and reverberation to the film's "rainy, neon-lit culture clash".[7][11] Rolling Stone's Christopher R. Weingarten recommended the record for fans of Boards of Canada, Oneohtrix Point Never and Kavinsky, while AllMusic found it similar to the works of English musician Patten.[12][7]

The opening track of Birth of a New Day, "Recovery", introduces the album's dreamlike sound with elements such as drones, pads, police sirens and shimmering piano melodies, and samples dialogue from the Wong Kar-wai film 2046 (2004).[6][13][12] Russo later said of "Recovery": "It's about reliving the same story in another time and space … again and again. Not so much reincarnation but the endless cycle of the universe as it expands and contracts forever, time repeating itself."[12] Andrew Ryce of Resident Advisor compared the track's progression to the loops found in the works of American musician William Basinski, while Joe Price of Complex described its "transportative" sound as akin to "looking out a hotel room window as rain pours".[13][14]

The childlike lullaby of "Distant Lovers" is played alongside field recordings of a subway system, public address announcements and traffic, likened by Igloo Magazine's James Knapman to the soundtracks of Vangelis, while "Shinjuku Golden Street" and "Sorrow" give the album a haunted flavor with their spiraling sound. The Junoesque "True Love", according to Knapman, brings to light childhood memories, with its soundscape of thunder and rain accompanying warm bass pulses evoking the atmosphere of In the Mood for Love, and Vice staff called the track "beyond-blissful".[6] "Telepathy" uses phasers and a larger portion of the 2046 sample featured on "Recovery", before "Birth of a New Day" closes the album with the sounds of waterfall, steam and thunder.[6]

Production

Birth of a New Day was one of the first vaporwave albums not to sample other pieces of music as a production technique. While recognizing sampling as a "legitimate" technique, Russo had previously expressed his and Laurila's desire to produce an album that could not be classified as plunderphonics, mentioning he actually dislikes the genre name, and said they wanted to show how vaporwave could be created in an original way rather than relying on muzak and jazz. He disliked the notion of the genre being resumed to slowed-down reverberated samples, "badly photoshopped" Greek sculptures, retro video game consoles and kanji, and with the album, attempted to develop the genre further, which he thought turned out "somewhat successful".[12][2][1] The album's production was influenced on Russo's side by musicians such as Steve Roach, Vangelis, Burial and Sigur Rós, and by Boards of Canada on Laurila's side.[12]

During production, either Russo or Laurila would start creating a track and then "send it back and forth" via e-mail until the track was fully constructed, ending up with one of them finishing the mastering process. While saying it was "as 50/50 as you can get with collaborative work", Russo said the style of some tracks does suggest who had the most impact on its production. He praised his collaborative experience with Laurila, and reported accidentally breaking the screen of his laptop once out of excitement.[1] Russo later clarified that he and Laurila used the music software Reason to produce Birth of a New Day.[15]

Promotion and artwork

Birth of a New Day features artwork by Argentinian visual artist Gustavo Torres, under the alias Kidmograph.[3] He was previously known for having worked with musical groups such as the Low Pros and Maroon 5, with Russo calling him "pretty talented".[1] In 2021, he launched a series of new visual pieces relating to the album's cyberpunk themes as non-fungible tokens on Nifty Gateway Studio.[16] The duo launched a campaign in November 2015 via Indiegogo in order to press the album on vinyl: 214 backers surpassed its goal within a month and it ended up 161% funded. They were able to press 1,000 copies of 2xLP 180-gram vinyl and, with the help of Bleep/Warp, ship them out to buyers worldwide. Backers of the campaign were also able to choose a perk that included a reissue of the original cassette release, limited to 50 copies. Both the cassette and vinyl releases included a bonus track, titled "Aftermath." Finally, the album was repressed on cassette in 2016 by the Not Not Fun Records label, limited to 80 copies.[11][17][18]

Birth of a New Day was first released by HKE's label Dream Catalogue on January 21, 2015.[18] A limited-edition batch of 50 CD-Rs was released along with the digital release of the album, being the first physical release of the label; in an interview with NeonVice, HKE states that although Dream Catalogue had previously released cassettes, they were in conjunction with smaller labels who worked on the physical side, while Dream Catalogue worked on the digital side. He further states that he always likes to do things differently with Dream Catalogue than what is expected, and instead of physically releasing the album in a cassette which was "the trend", he decided to introduce the CD format to vaporwave. He stated that CDs were something he always cherished growing up as "an avid music fan" when being a teenager, and that he still has a strong connection to the format (though still releasing cassettes). He further pointed out that releasing his music on CD is perhaps something romantic, and maybe the realization of a childhood dream of his.[2] In 2019, a bonus track, "Aftermath", previously only released on physical editions of the album, was made digitally available in a mixtape released by Russo on website Boiler Room.[19]

A screenshot from the "Recovery" music video, presenting an apparently confused woman.

The music video for "Distant Lovers" debuted on February 27, 2016, on Dream Catalogue's official YouTube channel, serving as a demo of the track. Created by a now deleted YouTube user named NVLLVS, the video shows multiple modified ambiances of the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V.[20] The "Recovery" music video, now featuring the track in full, premiered on Dream Catalogue's channel on August 20, 2016. Filmed by Alex Zou, David Koh and Autumn Lew, photography directors from Beijing/Tokyo, an Asian woman lying in a bed and getting up seen, followed by short clips of the same woman in a hurry to take the subway. When entering she sits, closes her eyes and sleeps before the video cuts out to other people in the subway. After sleeping, the apparently confused woman gets out of the subway and goes home, followed by a clip of her watching the panoramic view of the city at sunset through the window. The video was published by radioclub.jp and directed by Anise Mariko.[21]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Resident Advisor3.1/5[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes4/5[22]

Upon release, Birth of a New Day was received positively by professional critics.[6] The Rolling Stone magazine reacted positively to the album, saying that the opening track is "a dreamy, gorgeous cascade of deep drone, cascading piano and distant sirens", while Adam Harper of The Fader noted it as some of the "best vaporwave", as it "offers a brilliant nocturnal chillout".[12][23] Not Not Fun boss Britt Brown described the album as "amazing cyberfuture ambient vaporwave" to the Vice magazine.[17] When reviewing the best cassette releases of August 2015, Tristan Bath from The Quietus said that the album is one of the most powerful ambient releases to have come out in years. Noting the Blade Runner inspiration and comparing the album to DJ Shadow's Endtroducing....., Bath also praised the combination of Telepath's and HKE's musical styles, which was "perfect", arguing that the album offers "years of peaceful healing to everybody who gives it a listen".[11]

Presenting mixed feelings about the album, the Resident Advisor contributor Andrew Ryce stated that while Birth of a New Day is among the most mature releases on Dream Catalogue, the release still is akin to most other vaporwave albums: "alternately brilliant and sloppy, emotionally resonant at one moment and hollow the next". He said that even though the album does not include any sample-based music, some of the tracks still sound like such. Ryce also affirmed the album still relies on vaporwave clichés such as purple neon and Asian language, which "makes it feel a bit run-of-the-mill". He felt what set Birth of a New Day apart from other vaporwave releases were its "vivid ambient landscapes". Comparing the album to William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops, Ryce also noted how most of the tracks were composed of one single tone each, looped for several minutes. He concluded that the album is "a record with stunning highs and a fair few lows. If nothing else, it's proof that the spirit of vaporwave is alive and well."[13] In 2018, he described the release again by highlighting its "gorgeous ambient" sound.[24]

C Monster, a writer from the website Tiny Mix Tapes, had a greatly positive and detailed reaction to the album, describing that in this release, 2814 "swarms within riddled baselines dubbed to the suds circling the shower drain, draining the last bits of filth into a pipe that leads to a different story all together". The writer also reacted positively about the album's atmosphere and ambience, praising the usage of neon and advertisements that "pairs the citizens to this spectral of light". He creates his own narrative in the review, stating that he hears the citizens "walking down the road to purchase indigestion" through one of the biggest cities of the Earth; "the subway is queasy whilst it's delayed, at a stand-still."[22]

The Igloo Magazine said that Birth of a New Day "isn't an album that begins, it's one you arrive at," and describes each track in detail and praises the aesthetics of the album, although later stating that doing so does not represent the entirety of the album's "beauty":

"None of that really does even an ample job of describing just how immersive, soulful and incredibly atmospheric this work really is, and if it all sounds like it's mining familiar territory that's fair enough. Birth of a New Day isn't exactly treading new ground. What it proves, however, is that the mine is far from depleted; that there are still plenty of gems to unearth. And that's what this is, a glittering jewel that's pretty much perfect in every way."[6]

Legacy

Birth of a New Day popularized the Dream Catalogue Label and the vaporwave genre as a whole, as it contains "the entrancing parts of vaporwave, but condensed into a distinctly cohesive artform that also embraces past musical innovators like Boards of Canada, Burial and Sigur Rós" according to Bandwagon.[14][25][26] Tristan Bath said the album "dogded" what he called a side effect of the prolific nature of vaporwave, where "the odd masterpiece can disappear into the abyss having only reached the eardrums of a mere handful of ravenous vapor-heads."[11]

In November 2015, Rolling Stone noted that the album had become "an unparalleled success within a small, passionate pocket of the Internet" and "a staple of the Bandcamp charts".[12] HKE stated that the album is the definitive release of the label, saying that it "helped define the label, and what the guiding vision of the label should be", while American musician Michael Nesmith of the Monkees listed it as one of his reasons for loving the vaporwave genre, as it "[is] completely gone from the landscapes of traditional music."[3][27]

According to Paul Simpson, an AllMusic writer, almost immediately after its release, the album's "dreamy atmospherics and nostalgic melodies struck a chord with listeners, and it became an instant cult classic".[7] After the album's release, the Vice magazine named the duo as "vaporwave superstars", stating that in the scene, 2814 is "as good as it gets".[17] Russo said the Birth of a New Day's popularity was "a teenage dream come true, really, most absurdly and unexpectedly".[28] The duo stated the record was one of the most important dreampunk releases as it was a catalyst of the genre and of the record label:

"An album that shaped an era, Birth Of A New Day was quite literal in a prescient manner as it shook the foundations of the underground and catalyzed the 'dreampunk' movement coming out of the post-vaporwave era – helping define the aesthetic of Dream Catalogue as a record label in the process."[18]

Track listing

English translations adapted from the 2019 reissue.

No.TitleLength
1."Recovery" (恢复, Huīfù)5:51
2."Distant Lovers" (遠くの愛好家, Tōku no aikō-ka)6:18
3."Shinjuku Golden Street" (新宿ゴールデン街, Shinjuku gōruden-gai)8:51
4."Drifting" (ふわっと, Fuwatto)6:36
5."Sorrow" (悲哀, Hiai)9:23
6."True Love" (真実の恋, Shinjitsu no koi)7:12
7."Telepathy" (テレパシー, Terepashī)10:08
8."Birth of a New Day" (新しい日の誕生, Atarashī hi no tanjō)13:04
Total length:67:23
Vinyl and cassette edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
9."Aftermath" (余波, Yoha)5:30
Total length:72:53

Personnel

Credits adapted from the 2019 reissue.

  • David Russo – producer
  • Luke Laurila – producer
  • Gustavo Torres – artwork
  • Alex Zou – photography director (track 1)
  • David Koh – photography director (track 1)
  • Autumn Lew – photography director (track 1)
  • NVLLVS – music video creator (track 2)
  • Anise Mariko – music video director (track 1)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Monster, C (October 16, 2015). "Dream Catalogue (HKE, ２８１４): Interview". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Interview: Hong Kong Express - 2814". NeonVice. January 21, 2015. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Keyes, J. Edward (June 20, 2016). "Label Profile: Dream Catalogue". Bandcamp Daily. sec. 新しい日の誕生, by 2814. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Peters, Daniel (May 16, 2016). "Bandwagon Mix #33: t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 (Dream Catalogue)". Bandwagon. para. 3. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  5. ↑ Caceres, Nick (December 19, 2025). "Sonemic Interview: Luke Laurila | t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 | Starlight Temple". RateYourMusic. sec. 新しい日の誕生 [Birth of a New Day] (2015). Retrieved December 20, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Knapman, James (April 24, 2016). "2 8 1 4 :: 新しい日の誕生 (Dream Catalogue)". Igloo Magazine. Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Simpson, Paul. "2814 Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  8. ↑ Chandler, Simon (July 26, 2016). "Album of the Day: 2814, Rain Temple". Bandcamp Daily. para. 1. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  9. ↑ Wohlmacher, John (January 7, 2022). "Album Review: Burial – Antidawn EP". Beats Per Minute. para. 3. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  10. ↑ Wohlmacher, John (February 10, 2023). "Album Review: Kelela – RAVEN". Beats Per Minute. para. 18. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Bath, Tristan (August 27, 2015). "Spool's Out: August's Tapes Reviewed By Tristan Bath". The Quietus. sec. 2 8 1 4 – 新しい日の誕生 (Atarashī Ni~Tsu no Tanjō). Archived from the original on May 18, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Weingarten, Christopher R. (November 25, 2015). "10 New Artists You Need to Know: November 2015". Rolling Stone. sec. 2814. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Ryce, Andrew (September 26, 2015). "2 8 1 4 – 新しい日の誕生". Resident Advisor. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  14. 1 2 Price, Joe (February 20, 2018). "15 Songs to Listen to When You Want to Relax". Pigeons & Planes. Complex. sec. 2814 - "恢复". Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  15. ↑ Towlyn, Christopher (August 15, 2016). "Vapour Dreams: An interview with HKE of Dream Catalogue and 2814". NeonDystopia. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
  16. ↑ Maher, Michael (October 7, 2021). "Reimagining Iconic Artwork for NFT Collectors". Maxon. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  17. 1 2 3 "Prepare to Get Deliriously Dreamy with Vaporwave Sensation 2814's Beyond-Blissful "Shinjitsu no Koi"". Thump. Vice Media. September 15, 2015. Archived from the original on September 7, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  18. 1 2 3 "新しい日の誕生 by 2814". Dream Catalogue. January 21, 2015. Archived from the original on January 25, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2026 – via Bandcamp.
  19. ↑ Liu, Nelson (May 9, 2016). "Upfront 066: Dream Catalogue". Boiler Room. sec. Boiler Room says... Archived from the original on March 14, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  20. ↑ "2814 - 遠くの愛好家 [2016] [MUSIC VIDEO]". Dream Catalogue. February 27, 2016. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2026 – via YouTube.
  21. ↑ "2814 - 恢复 [2016] [MUSIC VIDEO]". Dream Catalogue. August 20, 2016. Archived from the original on January 21, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2026 – via YouTube.
  22. 1 2 Monster, C (September 25, 2015). "２８１４ – 新しい日の誕生". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  23. ↑ Harper, Adam (April 4, 2015). "If You've OD-ed On The Internet, This Music Will Save You". The Fader. para. 5. Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  24. ↑ Ryce, Andrew (July 27, 2017). "Label of the month: Dream Catalogue". Resident Advisor. para. 1. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  25. ↑ Han, Sean Francis; Peters, Daniel (May 18, 2016). "Vaporwave: subversive dream music for the post-Internet age". Bandwagon. sec. Birth of a new wave. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Ohio's enigmatic vaporwave producer 'telepath' recaptures classic sound with new album". WKRC-TV. April 8, 2025. para. 6. Archived from the original on April 15, 2025. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  27. ↑ Greene, Andy (August 22, 2018). "Michael Nesmith of the Monkees Loves Vaporwave. Seriously". Rolling Stone. sec. 2814, Birth of a New Day. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
  28. ↑ Andrew (April 11, 2021). "An Interview with David Russo AKA HKE". Archived from the original on May 27, 2025. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
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