Smany’s latest album To Lie Latent isn’t quite a new release. Rather, it features a lot of glances back at the wispy electronic singer/songwriter’s history. Some songs are simply brought back, while others — such as “2113,” originally released in 2014 via Bunkai-Kei Records — get updated and played around with. It’s a personal favorite…
For a while there, a lot of artists embraced hushed vocals set over slowly unfolding electronic backdrops. That musical foundation, though, seems to have become a little less prevalent in recent times. Smany reminds why it can be so affecting, though, on “Mabroroshi,” a song from her forthcoming full-length album To Lie Latent. Everything moves…
The voices and artists LLLL pulls into their songs tend to be perfect fits for the sounds surrounding them. Smany makes sense to join the Tokyo producer on new song “Nebula” — she’s spent the decade creating spacious electronic songs wherein her voice adds necessary human tension. “Nebula” moves at a swifter pace and features…
The music Smany has been making over the years already relied on a certain amount of delicateness. Like Flau artists Cokiyu or Cuushe, or someone like Nariaki Obukuro, she has used silence as the perfect way to twist the emotions central to her work. But before she worked fully with electronic sounds of her own…
Nothing wrong with a little electronic retreat every once in while. The delicate songs Smany puts together feel like little escapes, every number featuring a sparse set of instruments enveloping her voice, which runs from sing-speak to near murmur. Little details add to the songs — “Emigre (Album ver)” matches the sound of waves crashing…