“Keys to Cassiopeia is the most recent album by DJ and producer Imre Kiss and whereas the description on the EXILES page by Nemerov mentions him previously creating music with beats this album is pretty much a fully beatless drone and ambient type of affair. With an incredibly lush and relaxing atmosphere this album is an absolute joy to listen to with some wonderfully tasteful textures and melodies which fall well into the lighter side of ambient but in this case have such a consistency to them as well as subtle variations in the melodic patterns and instrumental approaches that these don’t fade into the background whilst listening. While the music is indeed incredibly relaxing right from the first second Imre Kiss has a great ear for using quality synth textures which have that metallic kind of shine to them that evolves, subtly distorts and at times even morphs into subtle storms of subdued noise lifting the minimalist melodies up to great heights of textural evolution. The additional instrumental and vocal contributions of Geri Kovács, Árpád Kiss and Wyme add some excellent acoustic and sampled elements to the mixture as well with especially Árpád’s trumpet performance sounding nicely subdued and on point but the way Imre uses manipulation of the textures by way of rhythmic gating, filtering and the aforementioned frequency modulation also creates this unique experimental approach to the music which adds additional movement to the textures which create subtle mystery and make it more spacey as is also the theme of this album. Once Imre brings us a more staccato type of repetitive track things are still not falling out of the album’s consistent theme as the whole album flows in a very subtle smooth manner which varies from introspection to exploration and excellently blends subtle minimalist melodies with smooth inspired textured manipulations. An excellent listen.”

—Sonic Sundays

“Imre Kiss is a producer and DJ active in the electronic music scene for several years, well-known for his works with various labels and collectives such as Farbwechsel or CRISIS. He has a distinct style of faded, dreamlike echoes with crisp, analog beats, saturated with a hint of mesmerizing, distorted house narratives. EXILES welcomes Kiss’ latest release ‘Keys to Cassiopeia’ to their catalogue, presenting a fresh direction in the artist’s newest interstellar ventures.

Beyond the black sky above our heads, filled with countless bright sparkles lies the vast, ever-expanding system of celestial bodies, galaxies, nebulae and unknown fields. Outer space catched the imagination and fascination of humankind since the dawn of time, calling all scientists, artists and dreamers on a voyage of wondrous explorations. We are still just scratching the stardust from the surface of all of this, whether they are the hottest takes from the James Webb Telescope or the latest mind-blowing sci-fi series, but one thing is certain: ‘Keys to Cassiopeia’ invites us on a journey that opens up new horizons and unheard perspectives.

The 9-track album describes a cosmic trip to uncharted territories, deep into the spheres of mythical constellations. The various chapters of ‘Keys to Cassiopea’ evoke themes such as the innocent dreams of exploring the universe, the energetic blasts of rockets (‘Theme I’) or the dreadful coldness of being alone, thousand miles away from the Kármán line (‘Theme II’). Floating like a confused spacecraft, ‘Theme III’ opens with gentle subharmonics and ambient pads, when out of a sudden, friendly plucks of strings and woodwinds appear, offering their companionship and soothing the fright.

With two interludes on its both ends, ‘Theme IV’ offers a look on the highlight of the journey, that fills the passenger with joy, vocation and a sense of ineffable composure. Coming with a dynamic and bright movement, ‘Theme V’ approaches us with a rather playful and light manner. It suggests a safe trip onwards, filled with meandering thoughts that remain with the listener, tempting us to return back to them again and again. The closing track draws an ending line to the narrative arc: it suggests ease and a fading image of a star’s collapse, leaving behind nothing but a stellar remnant. Echoes of the past, endpoints of an evolution, the final moments of an intergalactic tale.”

—Nemerov