 | Album Title: kanata konata |
| Record Label: Magical Lamp Sound Design | |
| Catalog No.: MLSD-0003 | |
| Release Date: February 24, 2018 | |
| Purchase: Buy at Sweep Record |
Overview
kanata konata is an original EP recently released by Hiroyuki Kawada, known for his works at Namco since the 1980s. The album title, a coined phrase by Kawada himself, states that it symbolizes the distant world as well as this world and the overall theme of the album is “We have to live our daily lives while feeling the universe, time and soul’s work. Let us accept fears, admiration and dreams.” The music primarily features a minimalist electronic approach. How does the end result turn out?
Body
The album opens with “madoromi” (meaning slumber), a chill electronic piece with a minimalist focus, light industrial tones, and a retro feel. The soft piano adds to the musical texture, and between the progression and the elements, the end result is quite relaxing. Following that is “omokage,” meaning vestiges, a piano tune blended with ethereal synths. Its beautiful melody and atmosphere help craft a delicate, soft touch to the album. “utakata,” meaning ephemeral, is another piano and synth tune with a melody that certainly has a sense of longing to it. The blend of piano and soft electronic tones is a beautiful pair, and as the piece progresses, it takes on a sense of freedom in its approach. “kanata,” meaning beyond, features organ and ethereal synths, giving off an almost church-like feeling. The tune itself has a feeling of nostalgia thanks to the melody and its incorporation. “konata,” meaning “this world,” is a bright and cheerful piano tune with a beautiful and hopeful sound. While it isn’t my favorite of the tunes on the album, it definitely adds some variety to the album as a whole. Lastly, the album closes with “haruka,” meaning distant. Like the opening piece, it, too, takes a minimalist electronic approach and is full of quirky synths, organ, ethereal and space-like qualities to it, and is, at times, a bit chaotic and discordant. There is definitely a sense of closure to the piece and it certainly captures the feeling of the preceding tracks.
Summary
Hiroyuki Kawada’s kanata konata manages to succeed in creating a fairly cohesive listen full of piano, ethereal synthesizers, and minimalist electronic touches. Like his previous album, hinemosu yomosugara, it takes on a theme and the music contained generally fits this approach thanks to its more subdued nature. Fans of Kawada’s past works will certainly find something to enjoy on this album as well.
