$18 Adv + Fees Lucid Express singer/synth player Kim Ho has escaped the clogged streets, blinding lights and noise of central Hong Kong to the region’s northern mountains. Heartbreak and disillusionment are on her heels. In these mountains, in sight of both the Chinese border and the international city hub of Central Hong Kong, Ho finds herself seeking to make sense of exactly who she, and her bandmates, truly are. The pride they’d felt as teenagers has long since faded. The multicultural progressive city that they grew up in has shifted staunchly conservative and politically oppressive since 2014, when an outbreak of anti-state protests were countered with beatings, politically-targeted arrests, and death threats from government officials. Says Ho, “we’ve just been steadily losing hope for a decade now”. Their response has been to create their own universe revolving around their studio practice space nestled in an unassuming industrial district on the edge of the city. “We joke that we created a ‘scene’ of five people” says guitarist Andy Tsang. Their upcoming album, Instant Comfort is the sound of a young band who have now traveled the world, seen what it has to offer, held it for a moment, before watching it slip through their fingers. While the group’s earliest recordings arrived buoyant on a wave of hopeful romanticism, this latest outing is more complex; mapping their journey from uncertainty to a renewed sense of self-reliance. As such, Lucid Express stand more assured than ever before. Ho’s vocals and synth lines confidently sit on top of expansive interweaving guitar textures from Tsang and Sky Kung, while brothers Samuel and Wai Chan provide a driving foundation on bass and drums respectively. Convening via Discord server, Instant Comfort was mixed in marathon overnight trans-pacific sessions between the band in Hong Kong and Kurt Feldman (of Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Depreciation Guild) in New York City. From midnight through sunrise, the album was painstakingly shaped by a shared quest to aim for something ‘perfect’. The result sounds unlike anything Lucid Express have previously released. Significantly more complex and layered, yet somehow clearer than ever. Ho reflects on hearing the first draft mixes that Feldman sent over before the overnight sessions, “It was us, but in a way we’ve never been able to capture ourselves… every part was so present ”. This sprawling 9-song collection is the embodiment of those stillest nighttime hours. Those moments amongst the half light where every sound feels amplified, every shadow looms larger than life, and every emotion dominates one’s thoughts. Disorienting feelings are embraced in these new songs, which anchor airy melodies with heaving walls of guitars on tracks like "Promise Me," "Dark Glass," and "Aster." Elsewhere, the band explores emotional extremes across the sonic spectrum in ways they've rarely ventured before. "Setback" unleashes swirling feedback and jangling guitars at their most raucous, the title track ventures into territory as moody and bleak as could still reasonably be called pop music, and "Faux Sweetness" delivers bright hooks straight out of 90s trip hop. While only gearing up to release their second full-length album, these five dreamers have captured glowing reviews for their music, lauded as “kaleidoscopic dream pop” (Under The Radar), “stellar… shimmery shoegaze jams” (KEXP), and “ethereal” (BrooklynVegan) while the band have graced prestigious festival slots across Asia and America including Clockenflap, LEVITATION, and Slide Away 2025. Instant Comfort, is slated for release on Kanine Records on February 20th, 2026 and follows their 2021 self-titled album, and the 2022 reissue of their Floret debut EP. Presented by Sleeping Village. This is an 21+ event