Bay Area producer Mr. Hong has quietly become one of the better instrumental artists working today since releasing his first EP, Colors, just four years ago. Just earlier this year, he gave us his first full-length album, the excellent Midnight. Now he comes back with a little bit of a different look with his latest EP, Vacation.

One of the things I appreciate about Mr. Hong is that even if the concept is simple or straightforward, he always finds a unifying theme to tie his projects together. There’s never a haphazard collection of songs – everything is done with a purpose and represents a certain point in his life, or certain ideas that he had. So while an EP titled Vacation might not seem like an amazing concept at first, once you begin to listen to it, you will begin to see that it doesn’t matter that the title isn’t something more sophisticated or abstract or anything of the sort. That’s because the proof is in the music, and everything comes together to create a sound that flows from one song to the next and is always in conversation with the rest of the EP. That and there’s nothing corny about the music that Mr. Hong is making. Everything he does is very heartfelt and musical, so even a theme like “vacation” doesn’t come across as anything but a thoughtful and moving listening experience. For the EP, he’s leaning more in the smooth jazz vain more than he has at any point in his career, as he captures the feelings of peace you might get from a late summer getaway, maybe to the beach or hiking through nature. Mr. Hong enlists the help of several instrumentalists, including alberto, michelle, dvdkm, marlboro, and medafiziks, who contribute sax, piano, guitar, drums, bass, and pads. This helps give the EP a certain live feel to the proceedings, but it’s Mr. Hong who bring everyone together and puts them all in a position to let them shine while also serving the greater vision of the EP. Overall, the EP has a very gentle and serene tone to it, something that will sound great on your headphones as you get to your happy place. It’s also very accessible and easy to listen to, but at the same time is so expertly composed and arranged that you can keep going back and picking up new elements each time through.

Mr. Hong continues to grow and develop with his latest project. Vacation might seem deceptively simple on its surface, but Mr. Hong puts too much care into his music to put out a “simple” project. This is a beautiful, musically complex EP that sounds wonderful as we say goodbye to summer.