The songs on Tokyo producer Kai Shibata’s Escape Sequence exude a bedroom quality that makes the emotions lurking within all the more forceful. It’s especially true for the pair of songs featuring guest singers. Opener “Unlock” finds Powaramiu bobbing over a herky-jerky set of drum-machine beats and synthesizer, her delivery generating a nice tension alongside…
You can find plenty of Japanese electronic music full of chimes and other cuddlier musical elements, and a lot of it is very good, but something about the wave of “kawaii bass” that leaves me wanting a bit more is in terms of ambition. Very few of these songs push themselves to go further out…
Powaramiu fits a lot into her song “Doki Doki, Uirusu / Syourui Awaremi No Rei.” It’s backed primarily by 8-bit notes, mostly bouncy but sometimes bubbling over. Yet this isn’t nostalgia for ’80s arcade games…those familiar electronic sounds grind up against touches of modern-day dance music, while Powaramiu’s vocals come through clearly, no electronic masking…