Kudo Kamome’s voice can turn even a jaunty tune into something concealing some unease. Her two 2018 releases wowed in how they shifted pop onto its side, taking the experimental energy of Japanese underground communities and seeing how that might sound against more accessible sounds. Almost a year since Apple Sleep, her voice plays a…
#20 Hikaru Utada Hatsukoi At their best, pop stars turn the personal into the populist — they make songs for everyone, not for themselves, even if the inspiration comes from inside. Hikaru Utada’s 2016 comeback album Fantome stands as one of the 2010s most fascinating album, wrestling with loss and maturity in a way few…
Singer/songwriter Kudo Kamome has been experimenting with pop structures for a few years now. She’s been releasing albums since the start of the decade, dabbling in fanciful Parisian-tinged numbers and more abrasive guitar music. Yet her latest EP Trypophobia Experiments offers some of her wonkiest creations to date, and an early 2018 highlight. Each song…