nihonithelivingfossil

[nihonithelivingfossil]

𝐎𝐤𝐥𝐨𝐮 - 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 [𝐍𝐢𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰]

𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢: 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩: 𝙾𝚔𝚕𝚘𝚞 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌, 𝙿𝚘𝚙 [𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙿𝚘𝚙, 𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚁&𝙱, 𝙰𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌] 𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝: 𝟹𝟻:𝟺𝟸 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚: 𝙵𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟶𝟽, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻

choke enough is the debut studio album of French musician-singer, producer, Oklou.

Oklou graced the underground alternative landscapes back in 2020 with her debut mixtape Galore, an alternative pop and art pop record which was branded as a phenomenon by fans and critics. The mixtape consists of chops that were produced primarily by herself and Casey MQ, with additions from A.G. Cook, Shygirl, Sega Bodega, Danny L Harle, and a few more to mention. The record was straight up captivating and promising, it was mystical, it felt earthly and marsh, as if it was made by dryads in the woods, as much as it is boggy to the ears in a good way, it still takes in account how electrifying it sounds at the same time. A side note, the words soil and electricity doesn't mesh well but I do know it does mesh well in Galore. In addition, said producers for that project totally annihilated track after track, it's as feel that a skip is impossible.

5 years later, "choke enough" was conceived, a somehow dissimilar experience from Galore. Not dissimilar to the point it alienates your core audience, but a difference vibe, in which she refurbished in this record. It's as if "Galore" laid the groundwork for "choke enough". Something notable on this record is its sonic cohesion, which contrasts the lyrical content and more so often the concept of this album is, in which she seeks to find the answers to her questions, a thirst for quest of meaning in life, where she quenches an insatiable definition for growth. Sonically, Lou took inspiration from Eurodance and primitive electropop sounds from the early 2000's, one artist worth mentioning is the English electronic duo, Frou Frou, consisting of English singer-songwriter, producer, Imogen Heap, and producer, Guy Sigsworth.

The flow all throughout this record is chill and smooth, there's a porcelain-like feel to it, but all the while, listening to this album will frequently make you feel underwhelmed, and even with 13 tracks, the runtime is a misfire, with the record barely making it half of an hour, where there are tracks that were served as interludes too. As much as the songs don't feel time consuming, it doesn’t give you enough climax to actually enjoy them to its full potential, there are moments that are anti-climatic, it's a little timid at times, as if it wasn't fleshed out to its maximum potential, and other times it may feel the flesh is eviscerated as well, but the great cuts will hit you like a cactus' glochids or at times the cactus falling to you in a tragic way to your death.

The ambition Lou has for this album is admirable, especially given it is her debut album. She still retained most of the sounds she identifies with and put a more identifiable brand with the addition of well-defined winds like the French horn and the flute, with synths accompanying each track, and with productions that feel dynamic, trancelike, and medievalist, it sets an atmosphere full of oxygen, it's deep, it's cool, it's azure, which is a great meeting ground for life.

What I find interesting about the tracks is how Y2K-ish it sounds, it takes the audience in a setting of an underground rave but it’s just mostly introverts vibing to it, the track "harvest skies" for example, or that it sounds like you could be reminiscing to the "The Legend of Zelda" soundtracks, which I felt in the track "thank you for recording" or maybe you feel like you are in an ice cream factory except you fell into the ice cream machine and got mangled as you come out a new product, which is literally the entire thing of "ict". I also enjoy the contributions Bladee had on the table with his adlib and verses in the track "take me by the hand", both of them sounded angelic, the track also made me feel as I was hearing an underground song from the early 2000's that exploded in this era. "obvious" where you could feel like you're in a medieval shindig, a track about being aware of your status in society and how easy it is to access things from your vantage point, it is certainly short and anti-climactic sonically, it's ethereal and effervescent. The track "family and friends" an emotional runabout of what it means to escape a distressing situation, but it becomes uncertain as you will always associate yourself with the things that gave you security, how it is a metaphor to family and friends that they will always be there for you. The heartbreaking acousting ballad cut "blade bird", a somewhat odd one out of the bunch, a satisfying closer, and the wavy strings illuminating and complementing Lou's raw vocals, the track is fuzzy and wired, meanwhile, leaving the impression of having the least density in all of the tracks. And the melancholic lyrics of having to let go of someone while the thought of having them but on your terms feels suffocating, not only to the person being talked about, but to the person who is in perspective. The title track is quite out there of an experience, it makes you feel like your head is above the clouds with its cosmic and galactic undertone to it, thanks to the dusty keyboards which often time might really cloud your ears and it goes way beyond the edge of the galaxy you are in.

This record these feelings offer is a gravity of sounds pulling and pushing you in places as if you get transported to a different dimension in every track. What helps in creating that flavor is due to the fact Lou's unconventional vocal technique of constituting her whispery voice and head tone quite well. Altogether, the composed and striking production puts it together seamlessly. There are certainly flaws that are worth noting, like how some tracks stray farther from its orbit, therefore, may feel a little too cold and distant from what it is originally intended, but overall, the record is exquisite while maintaining that niche sounds that captivate the ears to and for, where it tries to keep the tracks compact and compressed in amidst of all the chaos, accordingly, making things natural in the process.

𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨: — 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚒𝚌𝚝: 𝟔/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 (𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝙲𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚢 𝙼𝚀): 𝟔/𝟏𝟎 — (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`): 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 — 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 (𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚎): 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚐𝚜: 𝟓/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚜: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 — 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚎𝚜 (𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜): 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚍: 𝟏𝟎/𝟏𝟎 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡: 𝟕

𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚍

𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨: 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍

𝙇𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚐𝚜

𝟕/𝟏𝟎

[nihonithelivingfossil]

𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐔𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬 — 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲, [𝐍𝐢𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢’𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰]

𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢: 𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩: 𝙺𝚊𝚕𝚒 𝚄𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: 𝙿𝚘𝚙, 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚕 [𝙿𝚘𝚙 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚕, 𝚂𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚕, 𝙱𝚎𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝙿𝚘𝚙, 𝙿𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚕, 𝙽𝚎𝚘-𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕, 𝙿𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝙿𝚘𝚙, 𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚁&𝙱, 𝚂𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒-𝚙𝚘𝚙, 𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝙿𝚘𝚙] 𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝: 𝟻𝟶:𝟻𝟷 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚: 𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟿, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻

Hey, Juju here. Your thirteen billion year old living fossil and a lavender tinted star, and today we are to talk about the newest record from Ms. Kali Uchis with “Sincerely,”.

Sincerely, is the 5th studio album of Colombian-American pop singer, songwriter, Kali Uchis.

Even when she marked the start of her career during the release of her debut mixtape “Drunken Babble”, Kali Uchis gained commercial recognition with her debut extended play “Por Vida” in 2015, it wasn’t long until she released her debut full length long play in 2018, “Isolation” a project where Kali majestically fused genres while maintaining her sonic identity, Kali does it like duck soup as it holds pretty strong withstanding the test of time. Kali oscillates between her two major listeners with different release after another. Kali’s expansion in sound with “Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)”, and it is Kali penetrating the Latin scene with little to no effort, as her sound pretty is quite adjacent with reggaeton and latin pop, it’s packed with great moments, producing trends here and there. Then we have “Red Moon in Venus”, with its glossy and velvety textures, one can say the listening experience is enamoring, with moments that hold firm and strong, the consistency in tone, delivery, and theme makes it quintessential in Kali’s catalog.

“Sincerly,” takes on nuances from “Red Moon in Venus”, where the latter feels more outward more than it feels inward, and as you guessed it, the former threads inward more than ever, granting the idea being Kali’s most personal project to date, and in “Sincerely,” we are still to witness Kali’s ever so ethereal and empyrean vocals packed with a strong punch, to an extent plays part to her strength as a vocalist. Part of what makes this record appealing is Kali cohesively syncing her ability to sing with the aesthetic she is going for, the silky and satiny texture of each tracks radiates something so cloistered and celestial, where the instrumentals emanate flamboyance and effervescence, something hardly one can ignore.

A track that possesses such qualities is “Heaven is a Home…”, where the glassy synths and vitreous strings engages well with Kali’s dreamy vocals, and obviously, the vibe in this track is akin to almost all of Kali’s previous projects, so to say Kali is in her element is an understatement. In this track, Kali describes her freedom with love she found hope and faith with, where Kali spring from an unsecured environment, she finally is able to be assertive with how she feels towards her man, and if one has to picture what the song feels like, it feels like being trapped in a tunnel and was finally able to get a glimpse of light and ran for it and embraced what lies beyond it. This track is in conjunction with the track “Angels All Around Me…” as Kali recounts her encounter with the Great Designer for aiding her journey of success and failure in love to get where she is now, as a result, the last leg of the track is her being grateful for this heavenly being for the life she has now. The dynamic between the unearthly horns and crystalline synths compliments the track as a whole, it sounds jovial and hopeful. Those certain quantities appear on “Sunshine & Rain…” a track so straightforward that Kali is able to show the people she loves how vast her capacity to love is, together with her positive outlook in life, what she receives she shall give back. The excitement on this track is felt even with the drums and synths, it is pensive and divine.

Something on some tracks on this album is Kali being in-your-face as her songwriting gives away what she typically means, and on the track “Lose My Cool,” sure brings out that a lot, and sure, Kali is profoundly connected with her emotions, thus, unashamed to show it even to anyone, and the track is pure progressive dream pop, then the same thoughts was present in the dreamy “All I Can Say”, as Kali embraces herself without fear of judgment, she loves herself, she loves her man, she loves what she loves to do, and people can fuck off however they want, it shows Kali setting her boundaries for her peace. The track is packed with flavorful guitars, confident bass, flowery synths, and elated drums, the track is soul-pop r&b perfection, it gives girl group ring to it, it gives a certain anemoia or nostalgia to it.

One thing about hope is it would not be where it would be if not for despair, and Kali understands how hope works as she is effortlessly integrating it with her scarring experience and how she once negatively dealt with turned into something reflective, and she shared that with the tracks “Sugar! Honey! Love!” and “It’s Just Us”, as both tracks highlights Kali’s experience with mistrust and insecurity, as the latter is where Kali mentioned on that one line: “Kicked out the house as a teen” just because she is pursuing her passion in arts and films, and she was forced to live in her car, and that would change eventually when she meets the person where by now she invests in the new relationship and is now healed and healing with her lover. And the former, Kali had to put up with the sins of others and pay for it, until she met someone who is able to help her build herself up, in lieu of dwelling into the memory, she acknowledges it. And by acknowledging her past, she is able to conciliate with it instead of seeking closure from it, which is what the track “Breeze!” is for. Though one may be able to find security with being able to find conciliation with those feelings, Kali would find herself in a bittersweet situation with her new born child, and it is in the track “ILYSMIH” where it shows Kali singing a lullaby to her son about how she won’t let him feel what she felt before, it is Kali showing her motherly side of providing comfort to her son, and the track being backed with immersive and majestic instrumentations sweetens the deal, everything about this track just speaks to people who never felt what they should have felt from the people who are supposed to secure them.

Moving on, the same sentiments of being felt secured feels like a warm hug from Kali herself, and we find that feeling in the track “Daggers!” as Kali affirms this friend of her who finds herself in a difficult position, we get to see and feel that warmth, and undeniably, Kali sure knows how to maintain it, like in the track “For: You” as she would go to great lengths just to protect this person she loves so much, to an extent she would start a war with literally anyone who tries to disfigure the family she is building, “Territorial” displays that side of Kali as she swears she will rue the day of whoever tries to make a move on her man, and what one gets in this track is how stealthy and assassin-like the synths are, and how sinister and gangster-like the bass are.

The track prior to “Silk Lingerie” perfectly connects both the track that succeeds it and precedes it, and in this track Kali emits a sort of a Lana Del Rey posh with the light yet curvy delivery as she delves into her insecurity and question herself how could someone so perfect love her for being flawed, and that insecurity, yet again, arose from her upbringing, and the complimentary track “Falls Apart,” continues the narrative on how her partner is able to be patient with her, especially when how she can be a heavy cross to bear, and despite the self-awareness, she is able to understand that there is someone who would climb mountains for her. And though I admire the themes on these tracks, I find both of them a little underwhelming and too light, and even unmemorable.

Kali expands well with themes on this record and indeed she shows the most vulnerable sides from the depths of her soul, and it is a hard nut to crack to not actually find that relatable as Kali shows an enormous amount of understanding empathy, even in her tone and delivery, the warmth and the breeze is present with every turn you take, she sounds angelic all throughout, the deepest moments feel like a trench as the lighter ones already feel like the shallowest depths of the Pacific Ocean. Something Juju noticed is how much Kali tries to blend elements that are parallel to SZA, Beach House, and with Lana as well, except, she is able to neutralize those sounds and assimilate it with herself. Kali never ceases to amaze me with her production choices, she is consistent to and fro, she keeps putting out banger after banger, songwriting is marvelous, Kali expresses her thoughts truly well, and with emphasis for people to connect effortlessly. Although, there are tracks that lose itself in the moment, it falls victim under its own pacing and instrumentation, often coming off as one-note, thus, becoming unmemorable, but the greater moments sure fill those holes, the placement were keeping a momentum to keep one stick to the listen. And it passes through my mind how soft and delicate Kali’s voice is, where there are moments that feels like she is trying to breathe in air figuratively with some the tracks, it’s as if she needs to keep up for it not to outshine her, and I do love some tracks where her voice is the protagonists such as in “All I Can Say” and “ILYSMIH”.

𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨: — 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎…: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚂𝚞𝚐𝚊𝚛! 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢! 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎!: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝙼𝚢 𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚕,: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚄𝚜: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙵𝚘𝚛: 𝚈𝚘𝚞: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚂𝚒𝚕𝚔 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎,: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚃𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙰𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝,: 𝟔/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚊𝚢: 𝟏𝟎/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙳𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜!: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙰𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚎…: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚎!: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎 & 𝚁𝚊𝚒𝚗…: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙸𝙻𝚈𝚂𝙼𝙸𝙷: 𝟏𝟎/𝟏𝟎 𝙊���𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡: 𝟖-

𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚊𝚢

𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨: 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎…, 𝚂𝚞𝚐𝚊𝚛! 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢! 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎!, 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝙼𝚢 𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚕,, 𝙵𝚘𝚛: 𝚈𝚘𝚞, 𝚃𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕, 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎 & 𝚁𝚊𝚒𝚗…, 𝙸𝙻𝚈𝚂𝙼𝙸𝙷

𝙇𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙰𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝,

𝟖/𝟏𝟎

[nihonithelivingfossil]

𝐈𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐨 𝐀𝐨𝐛𝐚 — 𝐋𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 [𝐍𝐢𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰]

𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢: 𝙻𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙲𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩: 𝙸𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚔𝚘 𝙰𝚘𝚋𝚊 (青葉市子) 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: 𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚔, 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢 [𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚔, 𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚔, 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝙰𝚐𝚎, 𝙰𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐] 𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝: 𝟹𝟻:𝟺𝟼 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚: 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝟶𝟻, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻

Hello, Juju here. Your thirteen year old living fossil, and the Oya stones hidden beneath the caves of Utsunomiya City. And right here we have the newest Ichiko Aoba record, "Luminescent Creatures".

Luminescent Creatures is the 8th studio album of Japanese singer-songwriter, producer Ichiko Aoba.

Prior to Luminescent Creatures, Aoba released projects consisting of solo ones and collaborations, two frequent collaborators came in the names of NUUAMM and MahiToThePeople, and under their belt, they produced NUUAMM, a self-titled album, and w / ave. And throughout the span of the past decade or so, Aoba had been so consistent with her artistic direction, leaning more on folky sounds with a hint of rock, jazz, and country, but in its softest forms. A big inspiration for Aoba is her love for Disney films and Studio Ghibli Films, in which she incorporates well in the composition of her music, having it imagined how a Studio Ghibli soundtrack will sound like. She also cites her dreams and her imagination as one of the driving force in making her music as unblemished as possible, needless to say, her love for nature is evident on most of her recordings, one of which is her previous record, “Windswept Aden”, which I believe is a beautiful and well-done record, alongside its superb productions, the ambience is seethes is just so appeasing, the strings and winds rendezvous in places that makes it good in any way possible.

Windswept Aden potential lead up to the same direction as “Luminescent Creatures”, however, this time around, the mood is much meeker and more senile, mostly relying on nature to procure the atmosphere of most tracks, and of course, Aoba's voice is still the highlight of the record, though to say, it isn’t as dynamic as what we heard on “Windswept Aden”. In this record Ichiko pivots on themes, nature, human emotions, and most especially, the ocean. And it indeed protrudes an oceanic feeling to it, you could imagine yourself sailing on calm waters while staring at the starry night. Tracks such as “SONAR” and “Luciférine” which both possess thoughts of introspection while using words associated with the sea as metaphors, and occasion, it appears to be literally. In the opening track "COLORATURA", its beguiling instrumental feels like you are in a Final Fantasy adventure of some sorts. And it is something alternative people should listen to if their music taste is parallel to of Josephine Foster, Sufjan Stevens, or Joanna Newsom. It is also a majestic opener, and though you may expect more of those pristine instrumentals, it won’t be back until the last chops of the album.

The interlude "24° 3' 27.0" N, 123° 47' 7.5" E sets sail with luscious string arrangement, it is aqueous and subtle too. The track "SONAR" is what I particularly find interesting as it is figuratively in contrast with an actual sonar, naturally, aquatic mammals such as dolphins and whale evolved to possess an ability akin to them, later on adapting by their fellow mammals, the humans in a more discrete way, and that is with technology. Anyway, the track centers around reaching out to someone or something that isn’t in the light of the hands of the person in perspective. We got the track "mazamun" which portrays the main character, an imp creature going on around their life spreading mischief. The raveled details in sounds that lie in wait throughout the track which could be described as critters and insects as such which feels cognate to a Studio Ghibli film as I described earlier, and it coheres to that idea as it was also conspicuous on her previous LP.

The instrumentals become much more earnest as it goes, may it be the glassy violins in "tower", the serene flutes in “COLORATURA”, the lush strings in "24° 3' 27.0" N, 123° 47' 7.5" E", the echoey breeze in the backdrop of "Wakusei No Namida", and the intricate strings of pirsomnia, to which gave brilliance to the already unclouded feels in each tracks. The almost quiet production exudes an atmosphere so thin that breathing feels way more natural than it alsready is, where it's like the air itself passes through the respiratory system. Then there's Ichiko's distinguishable dreamy, delicate, and dainty voice that makes it a more scrumptious listen when you come back around it. To add it up, listening to this record with a diaphanous mind feels better than listening to it on a random day with nothing to do.

𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨: — 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚁𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙰: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 𝟸𝟺° 𝟹' 𝟸𝟽.𝟶" 𝙽, 𝟷𝟸𝟹° 𝟺𝟽' 𝟽.𝟻" 𝙴: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 — 𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚖𝚞𝚗: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚊: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙵𝙻𝙰𝙶: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙲𝚘𝚌𝚑𝚕𝚎𝚊: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 — 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚊: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙰𝚁: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 惑星の泪 (𝚆𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚒 𝙽𝚘 𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚊): 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡: 𝟖-

𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨: 𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚊

𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨: 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚁𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙰, 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛, 𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚖𝚞𝚗, 𝙵𝙻𝙰𝙶, 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙰𝚁, 惑星の泪 (𝚆𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚒 𝙽𝚘 𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚊)

𝙇𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨: 𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚊

𝟖/𝟏𝟎

[nihonithelivingfossil]

𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐧 — 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 [𝐍𝐢𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰]

𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢: 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚢 𝚃𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛, 𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝙰𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩: 𝙴𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚕 𝙲𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔 [𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙿𝚘𝚜𝚝-𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔, 𝙰𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝙴𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚆𝚊𝚟𝚎, 𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝙿𝚘𝚙, 𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚔] 𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝: 𝟽𝟹:𝟹𝟻 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚: 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟶𝟾, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻

Hello, Juju here. Your thirteen billion year old living fossil, and the numen of Autumn. Diving right into this new Ethel Cain record, “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You”.

Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You is the 2nd studio album of American singer, songwriter, record producer, Ethel Cain.

With her first 3 EP’s between 2019 to 2021, Hayden Anhrdönia made a name for herself for her ensnaring blend of gothic Americana, profound personal songwriting, and her riveting personality as both a character and a songwriter. What is to Ethel is she does not discount these traits as just aesthetic for her artistic vision, but it roots in from her experiences as a transwoman in a religious environment growing up, which garnered her a cult following. Her blend of alternative pop, dream pop, and gospel perfectly fits the narrative she is encapsulating through the character Hayden portrays in her music, which brings us to Ethel Cain. “Preacher’s Daughter”, just like in Hayden’s previous EPs integrate a lot of elements from gothic literature, horror films, and her own personal experience of violence, loss, and the deepest trenches of the white America. Fining the gravel into powder with those themes in “Perverts”, an EP from which Hayden released not so long ago this year, a shift in sound that is not so far-fetched, it is more calcified slowcore from the usual slowcore she is used to, except, in the bag, it’s got more drone and dark ambient to it that perfectly captures the thoughts of the record.

Months later, Hayden would drift back to the shallows for her latest release with “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You”, as the record leans into a more post-rock direction, where the steel guitars on this thing runs wild, the dream and ethereal atmosphere feels like autumn into winter, like how “Janie” is the mark of the equinox, the auburn ambience is vastly contributed by the steel guitars, and of course, Ethel’s serene vocals. A track that pictures the narrator speak about her relationship about this girl who didn’t necessarily left, rather, is with someone else, which implies a deep bond between the two as Ethel even mentions how she is a sister to her first before she became his. In this record, we see the character engage in a spectator mode, showing us the experiences of the people she holds dear to, like the girl Holly on the track “Fuck Me Eyes”, where the speaker depicts the life of Holly, a church girl who happens to engage in prostitution at the Holiday Inn, often times giving glances to boys in town. The track features more of Ethel’s vocals, and the synthiest of the bunch, which reminds me of “American Teenager” in some extent, which bring me to the point of not really fond of Ethel’s higher register, her voice feels off-putting when she goes high, the post-chorus is doing too much, yet, doing too less.

The interludes is as consumptive as the rest of the tracks, it lets the listener simmer into the barrage of instrumentation, from the synths, to the bass, to the electric guitar, where each of the tracks has a unique blend to it, you get elements of dark wave, shoegaze, drone, and darm ambient, where it does somewhat feel reminiscent of “Perverts” in some ways, and may even snuggle comfortably in it, especially “Radio Towers”.

The record features a lot of strings in the mix, the instrumentation feels thin and corrugated, the track “Nettles” poaches your ears with pristine fiddles, nippy banjos, and cozy acoustic guitar, a nice twang creates a ticklish curvature. The track sees the character mourning for Willoughby, the setting takes place in a dilapidated hospital as Willoughby approaches the impending doom from the premonition which Ethel provided, the track presents the yearning and endurance both characters face in the face of adversity. There are a lot of quotable on this track, lines like “To love me is to suffer me”, and “‘Cause, baby, I’ve never seen brown eyes look so blue”. Themes like these are often considered stern and aloof, as Ethel doesn’t really strike to you as someone who will make it tamed for a beginner listener when you consider this album your first listen, well that could be said with “Perverts” as it scared away even the casual Daughters of Cain, however, you may want to consider this record, as sonically, it’s got a factor of being conducive, albeit, the lyrics is something to watch out for, as Ethel doesn’t hold back, dark as they are, it is not edgy, the sheer power of her songwriting balances the density of the lyrics and the form of it as well, consider “Dust Bowl”, a track alluding to violence, however, it is translated in a different but way, it depicts the unhealthy relationship of the character and her lover and how the charged and stored thoughts of violence is a result of an environment that was meant for hostility. Albeit, the cruelty may have ended, the scars remain, and the sense of trauma will linger in the relationship when the time strikes. The riffs on this track compliments the chorus, as it evokes a certain emotion where you feel what the character may feel, but not in a direct way.

“A Knock at the Door” shares the same light as “Dust Bowl” in some angles, and in this minimalistic acoustic cut, Ethel describes opening up her feelings is akin to a home invasion or an ambush, where the invitation of opening a door for somebody feels like a trap, where knowing each other in a relationship is there, but a natural response from a person who experienced violence in the past may tell you otherwise. And what helps evoke the haunting and unsettling mood is Hayden’s somewhat augmented vocals shaping it into a recording of some sort, it’s very chamber folk-esque in a way. The back end of this record consists of the most protracted, most enduring, most soused of all, “Tempest” marinates itself in spread instrumentation, really soaking you in further as Ethel pursues the continuity in prior tracks, and the interlude that came before feels like the time of when the character and her lover were together, and here in this track sees potential regret of staying, or I’m just looking into it differently, but it seems as if that the relationship between Ethel and Willoughby is just dreaded, the tempest which Ethel often cited, is defined in “A House in Nebraska”, now it gave rise to speculations of the lost of Willoughby, but it may suggest he must have left after the carnage of a relationship with Ethel. And at this point, toxic is an understatement, but if you look back even in “Preacher’s Daughter”, it already feels like a point of no return. The final track “Waco, Texas”, a huge shift in mood, the acoustic cut got the light of the end of the stick, it is subtle in its way of expressing the lost Ethel felt, it is in no way a happy ending for her and Willoughby, and in this song, Ethel extends her thoughts of the harm that can be brought by idealized relationship, though you may say it ends with a gesture of comfort, a loss is a loss.

“Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You” exemplifies the ambition the image Hayden wants to be perceived as, an excellent collection of narrative depicting relationships between people and the carnage, turmoil, and darkness that was felt in Ethel’s perspective with the people she mentioned in this record. The album enshrouds itself with dense and droney atmosphere, that gives off a shift in seasons during the last months of the year. Despite the short track listing, the record shows Ethel’s most raw, most visceral, and most disturbing, the storytelling is just compelling in every ways, the discomfort and disgust is there but it is felt not negatively. And scant as you think it is, do not be deceived, the interludes takes as much time as the rest of the tracks. Overall, this record is great, by far her best, surpassed “Preacher’s Daughter” in every way.

𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨: — 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚢’𝚜 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 — 𝙵𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝙼𝚎 𝙴𝚢𝚎𝚜: 𝟕/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜: 𝟏𝟎/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚢’𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 — 𝙳𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙱𝚘𝚠𝚕: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 𝙰 𝙺𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝙰𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚘𝚘𝚛: 𝟖/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚁𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚃𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 — 𝚃𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚜𝚝: 𝟗/𝟏𝟎 — 𝚆𝚊𝚌𝚘, 𝚃𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚜: 𝟏𝟎/𝟏𝟎 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡: 𝟖+

𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜

𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨: 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎, 𝙳𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙱𝚘𝚠𝚕, 𝙰 𝙺𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝙰𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚘𝚘𝚛, 𝚃𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚆𝚊𝚌𝚘, 𝚃𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚜

𝙇𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝙵𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝙼𝚎 𝙴𝚢𝚎𝚜

𝟖/𝟏𝟎