New i-fls: Tenderness

At last, the latest installment in what has been the most intriguing body of work in Japanese music this year. It’s tough pinpointing what exactly bedroom producer i-fls does that has made the various free albums and EPs he’s released this year resonate so much. Part of it is how he’s able to use the barest of sonic tools to create so much music that also happens to be so varied from release to release. His newest, Tenderness, finds him jumping even further forward with his minimal production set-up (dude does all of this in Garageband, but pulls off more than some big bands can do sonically). Here, it’s all about the drums. He goes wild with the drum machine on “Friendship Fixed,” while “Snow Leopard” sees i-fls hitting up the party-kit option and somehow turns cheesy cowbell samples into weirdly sentimental flourishes (the piano lines placed next to them help a lot). Yet the best moments come when the usually hushed i-fls lets loose. “Memoria Del Suono Della Risacca” opens with what sounds like a busy signal and some 8-bit bass before transitioning into a whimsical synth workout…all par for i-fls. But the song builds up to a noisy climax, a thrilling moment. And then there is “Gorge Maki,” quite possibly the best song i-fls has recorded to date (which, to be honest, is a bit of a foolish endeavor, like trying to choose which random memory that tip-toes across your brain is most powerful). The drums on this sound IMPOSING, ready to gobble up everything else i-fls enters into the song’s frame. It’s the heaviest thing he’s ever made…but it balances out with the other element that makes his music so entrancing.

Which is the sense of nostalgia/longing he’s able to grace these Garageband creations with. Song titles have always been clues to understand what i-fls is getting at – a mix of girl’s names, suburban imagery and Internet landmarks (here, we get “Dropbox” and “Snow Leopard” and, for you train fans, “Pasmo”). For me, i-fls’ music has always been snapshots of memories that come across in moments of everyday boredom, the sound of suburban ennui translated through a piece of Apple software. And like all memories, these are far from perfect – “Kill The Arty Fake Lo-Fi Spirits” fades in and out during the middle of the song, like a mental image you strain to remember. What sounds like natural noise pops up on “Midnight Telephone,” while “lzh” opens with a harsh little pattern, like a brief bad vibe. Honestly, i-fls is just a master of creating simple melodies that are a swirl of emotions. Get it here, or listen below.