Naya by EXIA ULTA

the year was 1997, my first year in school. I can't remember much about the school itself, only that I didn't like it at all. the only part I truly enjoyed was the 20 minutes before school when I could listen to my sony walkman that my dad had gifted me. my mom dressed me; I had a sort of blazer, black "office" pants, and black boots with a mauve turtleneck under the blazer. I had a nascar-printed backpack that I really liked a lot, and a tennis-themed blue pencil pouch.

my neighbor and friend that year was Irene. she lived nearby, and her mom and my mom were friends, so they decided we should be wife and husband in the future. we shared the same table for the entire first year of school. as I remember, she had the popular, spice girls-inspired new rock boots that she wore with her school uniform skirt and white shirt. we were alwasy together.

it was truly a vhs renaissance. I remember all the family movies that were released that year: batman and robin, mouse hunt, bean, men in black, and george of the jungle. titanic was massive. irene had a titanic themed pencil pouch, a titanic poster print crop top, leo stickers, and everything leo or titanic related. I remember the markets full of titanic-related stuff, and of course, I remember watching it in the movie theater. at some point, I fell asleep; the movie was too long, and I wasn't impressed until the very end when the catastrophic event occurred.

other movies from that year included starship troopers, flubber, the borrowers, star kid, air bud, and oh my god, home alone 3. I'm probably the only person who enjoys this kind of off-brand, walmart dvd section b-movie more than the original two movies. anastasia and hercules marked the peak of disney's hand-drawn animation and almost the end of an era.

jim carrey in liar liar was the first time I heard about the color royal blue, which has been my favorite color ever since. austin powers and the 6th man - everything about that time was coated in a warm, family-friendly atmosphere that suggested your adulthood and future in general would be bright and awesome. nothing to lose, con air, wishmaster, and spawn influenced me more than any school or university. I know what you did last summer, an american werewolf in paris, event horizon, jack frost, and devil's advocate - I think it's the only year I enjoyed every movie I watched and can't complain even 30 years later.

I remember the sad news about princess diana, but I didn't know anything about her except that she looked like my mom, was stylish, and always had a smile.

that year I got a sega mega drive II as a gift at the start of the school year. before that, I had only played panasonic 3do, or playstation at my friends' places. my first game was mortal kombat 3. no way I can describe the feeling the genesis and this game gave me - it felt like I was part of a new world, modern and global. that also was the year of the mortal kombat annihilation movie. I remember the morning I woke up and walked to the vhs store to grab a fresh, new packaged cassette. I watched it too many times, to be honest - it definitely affected my music taste, as did the first movie. that summer I spent with my uncle paul, who was of estonian descent. we watched movies like there was no tomorrow and we listened to the original mk soundtracks on and on and on.

this year, truly fell in love with mercedes interiors. my father's friend got a brand-new s600, and we took a ride to buy me a genesis console. i remember how the sun was in the sky. i can't remember what it smelled like, but everything was brand new. new faces, new interiors, a new era - I felt like we were on the edge of something. everything was moving. i think that year i was introduced to cds. my dad got a new sharp player with both vhs and cd. we only had one cd at that time, it was george michael's older lp. i remember my mom and dad dancing in the room on those evenings. the night sky was something else. i've never seen it since. pure magic in the air. my parents put me in the swimming pool section that i was supposed to attend after school. i loved water, but i hated going there afterward, after i was already drained. it was too much pressure. I used to skip it and lie to my parents. there was a local competition close to new year's eve, and i finished second. as a gift, I asked them to buy me either the aladdin or sonic game. school was alright. I can't remember anything but irene was always by my side. we used to go to school together, ride the public bus together, and went to the swimming pool together - many people thought we were sister and brother.

this album is dedicated to 1997, a very stable and beautiful year. i tried to combine ambient music with something from my old ableton projects from 2013, 2014, and 2019. i promise you it's the closest i can get to show you how the sun in 1997 felt like with that transparent dusty air. my parents were probably younger than i am right now - now i know that they were just kids. and they had me, a dazed child. it was their paradise. i don't talk to my father that much nowadays - i think he keeps coming back to that year in his head, where he was dancing with my mom in the living room. the future was promising and the golden hour beautiful.