Guzz’s ‘Walking in a Boundless Dream’ is therapeutic and spellbinding
“Walking in a Boundless Dream” (走不出的梦境 zǒu bù chū de mèngjìng) is the title track off Guzz’s 2019 epic of an album. The lyric-less refrains soothes over the bang of synths and drums. The song — and, in fact, the album — requires the listener’s time and attention to be appreciated. But it’s a well-placed investment: 38 minutes in exchange for an existential weight lifted off your shoulders. Guzz’s work is like therapy: you get out of it what you put into it.
Guzz is from China’s southernmost province of Hainan. He now lives and works in Beijing, where he has been making music professionally for much of the past decade (his earliest work on Spotify, “Deep Jazzy,” was released in 2012). Some of his music has been inspired by trips to Southeast Asia.
For a musically-driven album with no lyrics, Walking in a Boundless Dream uses song titles such as “不止于日，不止于夜” (Doesn’t End With the Day, Doesn’t End With the Night), “时间河” (“Time River”), and “雨人” (Rain People) to draw in conceptually-inclined listeners. Even the simpler titles are clickbait: what musical expedition lies behind “天空树” (Heaven Trees) or “千鸟“ (“One Thousand Birds”)?
The “Walking in a Boundless Dream” music video, shot in Myanmar by Canadian Matt Moroz, stars two women who represent antithetical routines. One is disciplined, habitual, and precise. The other is restless, impulsive, and seemingly overwhelmed by a lifestyle of simultaneous overstimulation and boredom. Should you choose to accept them, the applications to modern life are readily available.
Friday Song is SupChina’s weekly sign-off. Let us know what you thought of the week that was in the comments below, or email editors@thechinaproject.com.
