Ai Kakihira releases new ‘MAKUNOUCHI‘ EP
Ai Kakihira | Photo Credit: Daisuke Murakami
Today, Tokyo-based multi-instrumentalist Ai Kakihira has released her highly anticipated new EP ‘MAKUNOUCHI’ via London-based independent label Gearbox Records. The release comes towards the end of what has been a very exciting year for Kakihira, following a remix of her track ‘IBU’ by experimental exotica outfit MuchaMuchaM, and the release of her recent EP titled ‘IN’.
Originally from Nagasaki Prefecture and now currently living in Tokyo, Ai Kakihira’s sound is a unique psychedelic blend, skillfully incorporating elements of chillwave, disco, soul, techno, global music, and dream pop. With delicate vocals and melodies sung in her native Japanese language, Kakihira’s music is full of dense yet intricate dynamic arrangements. “I place great importance in mixing highly dissimilar and contrasting elements, such as the old and the new, nature and artifice, while still making them sound pop”, says Kakihira.
To celebrate the release of the new EP, Kakihira has also shared it’s lead single ‘♡’. The track continues to see her move into hazy soul overtones with an almost bedroom-pop leaning edge, combining blissed out, hook-led synths and multi-layered vocals.
Hear/share ‘♡’ here
Elsewhere on the EP, tracks such as ‘Ameagari no I Miss You Pt.2’ melds global beats with idiosyncratic synth work that warp sand bounces around wistful horn lines and crystalline vocals. Whereas ‘p e r c u s s h u n’ is a polyrhythmic workout, which is captivating in its sparing nature, both at odds with the rest of the EP whilst seemingly offering a window into Kakihira’s creative process. Enigmatically speaking on the EP Kakihira says,“Maybe I tried to be you, or thought you were me. I thought it was about me and the world, but maybe it was just you and me.”
With so many trailblazing artists coming out of Tokyo - and indeed, Japan - at the moment, it’s no surprise that Kakihira is compelled to cross so many genres and boundaries. As an artist that refuses to be pigeonholed at every turn, Kakihira continues to beguile listeners whilst propelling her sound into new musical territory with a surreal and inimitable intensity.
Ai Kakihira’s “MAKUNOUCHI” EP is out now via Gearbox Records – stream here
Tracklisting:
1. INTRO
2. Ameagari no I Miss You Pt.2
3. ♡
4. Itsuka wa
5. p e r c u s s h u n
