Rex Kalibur (real name David M. Young) is an artist based in Joshua Tree, California, making downtempo inspired by the desert. Until I read that, if I had to pin an element to this music, it would have undoubtedly been water, not air. But maybe that’s just as fitting — the desert conceals its water, but it’s no less important. To the contrary, it’s all the more important in the desert, and every bit of it needs to be treasured, preserved, and reused as much as possible.

Young is dedicated to connecting his music to nature; he releases each of his records on the first day of a given season. Both of the included songs are delicate short-form explorations of a respectively tidy melodic theme. The first one “Sidequest LM” is from Young’s latest record, Lopen (released this past winter solstice). Its title is perfectly apt; it really does sound like the music you might encounter during a sidequest in a game like Ecco the Dolphin or Fez, full of slightly uneasy beauty. The second is from his previous record, Diametric (released this past autumnal equinox), and it’s a burst of gentle romance, really sweet stuff.

Find Rex Kalibur’s catalog on bandcamp, or for streaming.

Rex Kalibur – “Sidequest LM” (sc)

Rex Kalibur – “Love, Pt. I” (sc)