Blessing ('25 Filmmaking & Sound) Drops 'Natural Sounds II,' Exploring the Sonic Journey from Euphoria to Crash
06.12.2025
Kansas City-based producer and visual artist Blessing (Brette Shiloh-Smith) delves into the embodied experience of sound in her new album Natural Sounds II: Soft Focus, exploring how electronic music shapes both individual and communal spaces through a deeply personal sonic journey.
What does intensity sound like? What does euphoria sound like? What elements of sound evoke a sense of closeness—are they comforting, or do they suffocate?
These are the kinds of questions explored by Kansas City experimental electronic artist Blessing in Natural Sounds II: Soft Focus. Released on June 6, 2025, via Crane Operator / Orange Label Records, the project is the senior thesis of recent Kansas City Art Institute graduate Brette-Shiloh Smith (’25 Filmmaking & Sound).
Check out all streaming options and the limited edition CD release.
“For the work, I employed what I called the ‘experiential methodology’ of the project—going out into the world, I sought out where electronic music is experienced to understand how sound transforms us, both individually and communally,” she explains.
Emotional Resonance
Natural Sounds II: Soft Focus tells the story of a night out—from the high-energy euphoria of the club to the crash that often comes after. At the same time, she is asking herself why she creates art in the first place.
“Artmaking, among many other things, is a form of escapism integral to my well-being. Surrendering to sonic envelopment is a way for me to attain some sort of temporary weightlessness and ensure myself peace and freedom from my daily burdens,” she writes in a full project description.
Natural Sounds II moves the music away from rave-style spaces and centers it on personal listening. Brette makes it clear that these spaces still matter. The project instead aims to capture how physical and emotional those experiences are—recreating that feeling through sound.
The project was mixed and mastered by Brette-Shiloh Smith and Cyan Meeks, Associate Professor and Chair of Filmmaking and Photography at the Kansas City Art Institute. Smith expresses her gratitude to Meeks, saying, “Thank you for your creative and technical guidance, unfaltering wisdom, and support. My practice is eternally indebted to you—because of you, I am a lifelong artist and learner.”