Soft Escape: Haruno’s Flowers Laugh

ByPatrick St. Michel

Tokyo-based artist Haruno’s Flowers Laugh offers up a brief but comforting set of synth-pop, the sort of fragile music designed to slip into for a bit. The best moments come on the front end, on the two songs featuring guest vocals courtesy of Amegorou, who brings a soft but affecting touch to Haruno’s keyboard-guided melodies (especially on the bouncier “Can Not Be Waiting Anymore?”). The rest of Flowers Laugh is more a display of Haruno’s mattress-like approach to electronic-pop, highlighted by the daydream take on Jersey Club on “Our Mugs.” Either side, though, offers a nice bit of shelter, even if it lasts just under 15 minutes. Get it here, or listen below.

Similar Posts

  • Ryuuta Takaki’s Stillness EP

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    東京のアーティストRyuuta TakakiのStillness EPにおいて、その定義は後半のトラック”Phantasm”に込められています。始まりはミニマルでリラックスしていて、楽園をシンセサイザーで再現しているかのよう。その音は鳥のさえずりを彷彿とさせていて、速いビートとは妙な違和感が。しかし一分を経過したくらいからは激しいクラブ・サウンドに変貌します。と思ったら…曲は再びアンビエントに。Takakiが静けさと激しさの狭間を追求したEPの絶好のスナップショットと言えるでしょう。タイトルは自然を連想するものが多く（”Under The Water,” “Chill Wind,” “Sleety Rain”等）、ミニマルな構成が特徴的です。でもノイズを活かした、よりダンサブルなトラックなんかもあります。Ryuuta Takakiのスタイルを知るにはうってつけの８曲作品になっています。試聴はこちらから。

  • Etsuko Yakushimaru (Soutaiseiriron): “Venus To Jesus”

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGlZdOKE8Uo&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Despite having the stupidest title any song working as end credit music for a J-Drama could possibly have, Soutaiseiriron lead singer Etsuko Yakushimaru’s latest solo single sounds better than a large chunk of her main gigs latest album. Sure, “Venus To Jesus” sounds more or less like a Soutaiseiriron song (relatively minimal construction allowing…

  • Island Flavor: Tidy Boy

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    Tokyo’s Tidy Boy reminds us isolation and depression still exist at even the most tropical of locales. Despite the general beach-side feel fueled by copious amounts of cow bell, Tidy Boy blankets the party in fog via rough guitars and his coming-from-a-dark-corner-of-a-room vocals. “Muddy Tree” might feature a beat just dieing to be covered in…

  • New QQIQ: 000-000

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    The group QQIQ always have worked in somewhat secretive ways. Sure, they posted all of their songs to YouTube, so it wasn’t that mysterious, but they rarely shared any pictures of themselves, and the only way to get their albums was to follow a special online ordering process. And the music could carry that same…