Attempting to familiarize myself with Silent Rider was an enjoyable accident. Similar tangents of research, despite initially noble in their pursuit of information, are often doomed for lost hours spent on useless websites or entire evenings vanished into YouTube wormholes. Without discovering much on New York’s Reed Kackley, I still remained affixed solely to the music of Silent Rider — no flashing ads or shiny links could distract me. Neither further reading nor detours to related bands were needed; the beats of Silent Rider easily held my attention.

Camille Corazón was the cause of my quest to gain perspective on the typical makeup of a Silent Rider track. One listen of “Black Crown” and I wanted to discover if the voice or its atmospheric backdrop were calling to me. After precious late-night snooze time was handed from my pillow to the gods of the internet, I determined the answer is both.

Patience is a virtue and Kackley could very well be a meditating Shaolin monk because Silent Rider songs seem to feature it in abundance. While never rushed and frequently shrouded in dark tones, the overall theme somehow manages to remain positive and enjoyable. Listens to nearly a dozen other remixes and originals found similar results. While the beat, production, and layering shined, the vocals went largely unnoticed. Enter Corazón, another artist shooting blanks in the catacombs of my music knowledge. With more performances like the collaboration on “Black Crown,” both are sure to warrant far less Google research in the future. 

About The Author

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A Madison native and UW graduate, Chris Kraemer lives and breathes between Monona and Mendota. His passion for experiencing an album in its entirety helps him feel at home while frequently apart from his beloved isthmus.