Ichiko Aoba‘s, “Luminescent Creatures” is absolutely wonderful, offering moments of quiet isolation and meditative beauty and hope amidst the overwhelm of doom scrolling..To listen to Ichiko Aoba is to be drawn into a world as intimate as a warmly lit home, but cosmic in scale. The Japanese singer, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist has taken a dedicated online fanbase built from TikTok sounds and critically acclaimed, and translated that into international tours spanning more than 20 countries.
Opener ‘COLORATURA’ has delicious echoes of the work of Françoise Hardy, with the whirring instrumental motifs, and pungent wood wind notes guides us into a new terrain of the environment man has sought to destroy, while colourful wisps of melody comfort as you are submerged in slumber. ‘FLAG‘ distills pure simplicity and transfixing majesty, with her beguiling isolated voice and a guitar, Aoba reflects on life while gazing at the sea and singing: “Is it true that we are reborn so many times over?”
At the heart of “Luminescent Creatures” is the push and pull between the beauty and brutality of nature, one moment its vast landscapes and oceanic depths can make us feel insignificant and powerless to its cruelty, and the wonder and awe of nature and the glowing illumination of the core of every living creature: it’s these dichotomies that Ichiko Aoba channels quite exquisitely. A beacon to call you home in the dead of night, safe harbour, a reminder of what it means to feel grounded, to be alive and it sounds absolutely magical.
The Fat Angel Sings 