Komorebi by Context Chameleon

Context Chameleon
Komorebi
Dome of Doom
August 28, 2020

Komorebi: Sunlight filtering through trees.

Komorebi is the debut album from ambient and electronic group Context Chameleon. The record is scheduled to release August 28th with Los Angeles-based label Dome of Doom (digital/cassette). Komorebi is centered around the experimental synth work of Pomona, CA’s Erik Otis, the group’s founder and leader. Members comprising Context Chameleon across the Komorebi LP include Josef Leimberg, Kenny Segal, Honeybee, Gnome Beats, Demon Slayer, Tomoki Sanders, and Jonah Levine.

As the only word in any language (Japanese) to describe the process of sunlight filtering through trees, it became cathartic in the application of life’s emotional intricacies and how that translated into musical form for the group’s tonal direction. The cover for Komorebi was shot by Erik Otis at Ted Craig Regional Park in 2015. The Fullerton, CA park is a stone's throw away from the apartment where over a 100 Context Chameleon songs were performed and captured digitally, including the moog sequences found across the entire Komorebi LP.

“Looking up and setting the camera to find symmetry coupled with surrealism,” Erik Otis explains, “an astonishing display of light rays scrambled all around the weathered and mature trees. The sheer beauty of the komorebi experience sprung creative life that has remained with the group's sound since. The photo serves as a building block to many recordings that would come during this phase and those that continue to build in our library. Komorebi is representative of the beauty of my life partner, our son, the creators in Context Chameleon that occupy creative spaces with me, my family, and all those who have remained close sources for wisdom over the years. It’s the light we are shining through the thick canopy of life’s path.”

Context Chameleon’s creators contributed their Komorebi feature parts this year, with Erik Otis also finalizing a handful of the tracks on the Arturia KeyLab 61 MIDI keyboard. In that context, the album also captures the energy of the social unrest present and the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two decades, every member of Context Chameleon has been a part of local, national, and international fights for justice, equality, and peace, and this musical project will also serve as a vehicle for this energy. Proceeds from Komorebi will be donated to the Elijah McClain Fundraiser, Black Lives Matter, Free Mumia, The World Stage, and Save The Music. Context Chameleon’s Komorebi releases August 21, 2020 with Dome of Doom.

Context Chameleon is an ambient, noise, and electronic group founded in 2015 by Pomona-based artist, writer, publicist, and photographer Erik Otis.