KB-S Embarks on a Journey of Emotional Euphoria with New Album “Altered States”

On “Altered States,” Minneapolis-based artist KB-S has created an intensely personal sonic experience. With 7 songs giving his musings on emotional highs, the album exists as a rich palette of hip-hop, downtempo grooves, and dreamy electronic sounds. Uniquely, these songs were all written, performed, produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by KB-S on his own time in his home studio and will resonate with anyone who has experienced being so encompassed by love, lust, and emotion that the world around them just started bending.

“Altered States” is not a break-up record and is not a love record either, but a record exploring emotional intoxication and how overwhelming feelings influence perspective, cognitive awareness, and consciousness. For example, the song “Hypnotized” is a get-after-it jam where punchy percussion and glitchy brass drama articulate dramatic tension and maintain the groove.  “Smitten,” on the other hand, embodies a sweet calm with a precious harp and sequencing that conjures the feelings of soft placidity and quiet in the aftermath of ecstatic emotional bliss.

Beyond its romantic essence, this album is a watershed moment in KB-S's development as a producer. Its rich, melodic development informs where he may go in the future. "Altered States" is vulnerable yet technically precise, and an important entry into the ebbs and flows of the developing lo-fi-electronic landscape. This is an album to feel as opposed to hear, an evocative, moody treatment of what it means to be lost in love.