San Jose-raised lo-fi artist acari got her name from the Japanese word for light, akari (明かり). Her newest EP, clean dopamine, feels like sunshine, from floating R&B melodies to easygoing reggae. Also known by her given name, Carina Valdes, acari has been releasing euphoric sounds on streaming platforms since 2022.

Prior to that, she took a long hiatus from music. On social media, she opened up about falling victim to the opiate epidemic in the early 2010s. “To say it changed my life in the worst way is an understatement. I was lucky enough to get out of it, and even luckier to somehow start a new life,” she wrote on Instagram. According to the CDC, there have been three waves of the opiate epidemic since 1999, claiming over 800,000 lives. Acari adds, “I’ve seen many people lose themselves completely or worse, become a statistic. I am truly, truly grateful to be here today, and that’s something I don’t take for granted.”

This new EP was acari’s climb out of the rabbit hole—a way to express her experiences as a body of art. The lead single, “soft trailz,” is a fan-favorite reggae track that spotlights her gentle voice with a dreamy, reverberated quality. This marks a shift from earlier work, such as her 2022 single “No Rules,” which is reminiscent of an early 2000s indie-pop love song, and her later single, “paranoid,” which captures feeling-forward lyrics with rounded basslines and smooth guitar lines. 

Acari mainly produced clean dopamine alongside her husband, Kenny Nishikawa, who is intertwined with her music career. “Soft trailz” was written after the birth of their son, Koji, who is now three years old. Finding time to collaborate can be hard as parents, so they often work separately. “He’ll be working on the mix, and as soon as Koji goes to sleep, then I’ll start tracking vocals. You have to make it work somehow,” acari says, describing the double-team strategy. 

For this album, she also worked with Rey Resurreccion, her former roommate, and Angelo David, who plays keys for her live sets. What brings these artists together is their beginnings in the grassroots San Jose music scene. Acari’s first venture into music was fronting a garage band called April Chase about 15 years ago, when Filipina women like herself were rare to come by in the rock genre. “My favorite thing to do was just go check out local bands,” she reminisces on a time of vibrance in the local underground scene. “It’s how I met a lot of people musically that I know now.” One of her favorite memories from that time was throwing a DIY show in a friend’s screen-printing warehouse for their CD release, where her friends were the “bouncers.” 

Acari traces her love for reggae music back to 2019, when she went to Hawaii, not necessarily to her Filipino roots. She references American Idol finalist Eli-Mac, another Filipina artist who has transitioned into reggae, as more identities gain visibility in the community. It’s a genre that has fortified a subculture within Hawaiian and Polynesian communities, with the Bay Area as a major hub for the Jamaican-originating counterculture. 

Acari celebrates this subculture by throwing in hits from artists like Fia during gigs at Mastro’s Steakhouse in San Jose. Beyond her belief, she even had the chance to open for Fia, who headlined at Music in the Park, an annual summer concert series. “It was just a dream to be able to play on that stage,” she says. A long-time fan of Maoli and the Expendables, she has earned opportunities to open for legendary artists in the scene. 

With one toddler and another baby on the way, motherhood has completely shifted acari’s viewpoint on music. “Honestly, I was so scared. I thought, ‘That’s it for me, I’m gonna have to put this on the back burner,’ ” she expresses. Listening to a podcast, she realized how important it was for parents to lead by example first. “My son’s dreams run parallel to mine,” she explains. “[Having a child] fueled my passion for music more. Now I have to make time for it if I want to do it, not just when I have inspiration.”

Acari wants to bring joy-filled music to the world, and much more of it. “Clean dopamine was the album that I needed to get out to move on with things,” she says. “I’m ready to make music that incorporates the evolved version of myself and my experiences.” As her son shows an early interest in the drums, she can’t wait to see his growth. Having observed other bands with growing teens, she’s excited to jam with her children. “Every time a TikTok like that pops on my feed, I’m just like bawling, ‘This is gonna be me and my son someday.’ ” 

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Image 2: clean dopamine EP cover, photo by Miles Caliboso, _ohmiles graphic by Rey Resurreccion, reyresurreccion

Image 4: Provided by acari

Image 6: clean dopamine EP track list graphic, photo by Miles Caliboso, _ohmiles graphic by Rey Resurreccion, reyresurreccion