Bedroom – “Gulf”

Noah Kittinger has been releasing music under the name Bedroom since 2012. The recordings have always embraced a decidedly DIY bedroom recording vibe (hence, the name) but slowly grown over time to become more layered, more textured and nuanced. Starting in May of 2019, Kittinger began to collaborate with Paul Kintzing of German Error Message; another solo outfit with a deceivingly sparse approach.

“Gulf” is the third release from this collaboration (with Two and Count to Five preceding it) and serves as a wonderful confirmation that the two work extremely well together. The song itself is a natural growth in style and instrumentation for Bedroom; stretching it out to include touches of saxophone, samplers and drums – none of which would be out of place without the collaboration but presumably stemmed from working together to push the boundaries of what is normally produced.

Generally, the work of Bedroom would be firmly placed in the “Winter Music” category; as it is withdrawn, introspective and a bit quiet. With “Gulf”, not only is the instrumentation stretched into new territories but the general feeling of the music is as well, pushing the listener into more of a Spring feeling; as the introspection turns to an optimistic realm. It’s fleeting but it’s certainly there. Without more behind-the-scenes straight talk from the two of them it’s pure speculation to know what nurtured this change but it’s a welcome respite during sub-freezing days.