Last Friday saw the release of What Ails You, the debut album from composer and producer Essvus (aka Gen Morigami). A gripping and noise-driven album blending IDM, ambient, and drone influences, What Ails You is an emotional rollercoaster, reflecting Essvus’ struggles with mental health, family trauma, isolation, and personal healing. Drawing from both his personal struggles and his creative growth, Essvus creates a soundscape that is both haunting and cathartic. “When I started working on this music, I was in the midst of a severe, self-destructive depression that had already lasted for years,” he says. “I hadn’t come to terms with the fact that my father was a cult leader until 2020… Only then did I realize I had endured decades of narcissistic abuse and psychological torment.”

Essvus’ complex production combines layered electronics, field recordings, and manipulated voice clips, channeling a variety of influences from UK techno and the LA beat scene to the experimental traditions of Nyege Nyege and Groupe de Recherches Musicales. The result is an intricate mix of bliss and beauty but also gloom and tension, as Essvus explains:

“This music isn’t just about simple contrasts or a straightforward path. It’s a cross-section of my life, in all its confounding ways.”

The album’s lead single, ‘Never Here’, epitomizes this blend of darkness and light, with hypnotic rhythms driving the eerie phrase “I wish I was never here.” The track, and the album as a whole, encapsulates Essvus’ journey through personal torment and, ultimately, healing. ‘Never Here’ is offered with an accompanying video and you can watch it below.

What Ails You is out now on New Amsterdam Records and is one of two debut albums by alumni of the New Amsterdam Genre-Fluid Composer’s Lab.