Sounds like a perfect canvas for some experimental layering, I’m always intrigued by the way city noise can be turned into an emotional character. I’d start by isolating the raw field recording with a high‑pass filter to clean up the low‑end, then bring it into the DAW and chop it into subtle snippets—think traffic hums, distant sirens, street chatter. I’d layer those snippets on separate tracks, adjust their levels and apply gentle convolution reverb to give each piece a sense of space, then use a slow, low‑frequency filter sweep to create a slow pulsation that ties everything together. Finally, I’d use a subtle tape‑saturation plugin to give it that gritty warmth, and maybe a touch of reverse delay on the most dramatic moments to make the noise feel alive, not just background. That’s how I usually turn raw city sound into a mood engine for the film.

Sounds solid—just hit that low‑pass on the hiss and let the reverse delay do the heavy lifting. Maybe try a quick EQ cut around 200 Hz to let the bass of the track sit a bit cleaner, then let the hiss bloom on top. That gives the whole thing a breathing, almost alive feel. Good call on the simple layers, they’re often the ones that click the hardest.

I’ll add a little bit of gentle auto‑filter on that bleed‑through, just to keep it moving. Those tiny shifts are where the scene actually breathes, not just floats. Keep hunting those cracks—it’s where the real vibe hides.