Awkward Corners‘ upcoming album, A Book of Imaginary Beings, is filled with strange, evocative vignettes, each one conjuring a figure or moment that sits somewhere between myth and memory. Among them, ‘Regretful Polar Bear’ stands out as a miniature of restraint and atmosphere, a piece just 2:27 long, yet one that lingers with surprising weight.

Built around a steady low-end pulse, the track establishes its footing immediately, grounding the listener in a slow, rolling rhythm. Rather than stacking layers for density, Chris Menist lets the mids and highs breathe, allowing shifting textures and processed tones to drift across the stereo field. In contrast, flickers of higher frequencies appear like distant glints of light off ice. The result feels alive and organic, a waveform that swells and recedes as if the track itself is breathing.

The title frames the experience: there’s melancholy here, but also ambiguity. Is this polar bear a metaphor for environmental fragility, or simply a surreal character in Borges’ unwritten bestiary? Either way, its regret is rendered as sound-painting, quiet yet deeply affecting.

Pre-order A Book of Imaginary Beings here