Ichiko Aoba - Luminescent Creatures - VINYL LP

To listen to Ichiko Aoba is to be drawn into a world as intimateas a warmly lit home, but cosmic in scale. The Japanese artisthas taken a dedicated online fanbase built from viral TikToksound clips and critically acclaimed albums and translated itinto international tours spanning more than 20 countries.Aoba's latest album, Luminescent Creatures is the culminationof her 15-year long career - during which she's collaboratedwith Japanese luminaries such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, HaruomiHosono, Cornelius, and more - and finds her deftly melding thejazz-infused folk of her early albums with the orchestral worldbuilding of her 2020 opus Windswept Adan.While conducting field research on Ryukyu Archipelago, Ichikowas enamored by the boundless beauty, and occasional terrorof the ocean. She'd go freediving, submitting herself to thewhims of the tides. InchI feel unable to resist the pull of the ocean,InchIchiko says, Inchand know how easy it would be for my small bodyto be swallowed by the sea.Inch That contradiction, gentlenessand power, instilled a sense of awe that is expressed in thesoundscapes of Luminescent Creatures. InchLuciférineInch introducesher central theory bioluminescence. rich strings and twinklingpiano ripple like sunbeams on lapping waves, cutting throughthe dark expanse of the briny deep. InchInside each of us,Inch shesings, Inchthere is a place for our stars to sleep.Inch It conjures animage of creatures pouring off light like celestial bodies, lightinga path to close the distance between galaxies. On InchSONAR,Inchshe ruminates on other ways to bridge the divide. InchBeyond thedarkness, a glimmer of somebody's voiceInch-her own voice lowin the mix as if suppressed by insurmountable depths. An echoof her voice creeps in, reverberating like a whale song. Evenwith the most rudimentary senses, we find ways to one another.Luminescent Creatures is about making meanin