Last week Tycho performed a cool end-of-the-summer evening show at Central Park’s SummerStage. Upon entering, the venue was lined with promotors offering an odd combo of freebees: hangover cure tablets, granola bars, and ice cream sandwiches. The space let in a breezy evening air that paired perfectly with L.A. duo Poolside’s opening act, which saw the crowd through a laidback city sunset.

The audience filled in significantly as we awaited the headliner. Tycho’s Scott Hansen stepped on the stage all dressed in white and jumped into his accessible track “A Walk” from the 2011 release Dive. The night sky set a perfect backdrop to his visual accompaniments of crashing waves, southwest desert scenes, and kaleidoscope colors. Flashing lights flanked the stage, blinking and shifting between rainbow hues in rhythm with the beat, illuminating both the artist and the clouds of vape smoke floating over the crowd.

The highlight of the show proceeded once he introduced his special guest, Saint Sinner. Her white-blonde hair glowed against the light and she serenaded us with Weather hit “Pink and Blue” as well as the more mellow track “Japan.” Between songs, Hansen beamed, admitting that playing to us in Central Park was a “dream come true.” No doubt, Tycho’s California vibes add a dreamy quality to any scene. That night at Hansen’s show, the dream was the low-fi calm of Tycho’s live set reverberating out from the heart center of otherwise busy New York City.

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Big news for downtempo fans this month: Grammy-nominated artist Tycho is set to release the upcoming album Weather this Friday, July 12^th. Running just under the 30-minute mark, Weather stays true to the artist’s signature exploratory, lo-fi sound. The upcoming release stands out against Tycho’s past body of work with the addition of vocal leads to his songs.

Saint Sinner, the dreamy Soundcloud singer who joins Tycho on Weather, can be found on “Pink and Blue,” a colorful track released earlier this year to clue listeners into the bubblegum side of the album. Gentle, bouncing synths recall breezy days and sweet, simple feelings of innocent loves. Deeper in the album, some of life and love’s natural letdowns are spotlighted, but Tycho’s song structure allows us to emerge without feeling cynical or discouraged. The melodies, along with the lyrics, are ebullient and candid, even when wistful. “Don’t complicate it,” coos Saint Sinner in “Skate.”

Scott Hansen, the composer and producer behind Tycho, seems to have streamlined his way into a musical niche. Tycho exemplifies chillwave, as well as the millennial easy-listening “beats to study/relax to” genre, without losing focus to excess distortion or repetitive loops. Track titles like “Easy” and “No Stress” prove that the graphic designer/photographer turned electronic artist is hyper-aware of his musical brand.

Paired with the smooth, soft vocals of Saint Sinner, Tycho creates an ambient work more interesting and pieced together, without taking anything away from his signature buoyant, spacey brand of electronica. Weather invites us to embrace light and dark together, to slow down and “feel the rain and the sunshine” amidst our fleeting time on a changing world.

Tycho will be touring the album in September this year along with Saint Sinner and friends. Look out for dates on his website.

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