stillness, softness...
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2023, album, houndstooth records
‘stillness, softness…’ explores a new sonic range within Omori’s world of analogue synths – namely, her Prophet ’08, the Moog Voyager and UDO Super 6, an analogue hybrid synthesizer that creates binaural, 3D-simulating sound. The album is darker, more expansive and more noirishly theatrical than her previous work. Whereas Omori’s debut was largely instrumental, here the vocals are front and centre, as she opens up on themes of dreams versus reality, solitude, reconnecting with who you are and, ultimately, finding strength in yourself.
Omori calls ‘stillness, softness…’ a collage of experiments which she then pieced together “like a puzzle”, each song representing a memory room. The end result is seamless, a continuous cycle of 13 vignettes that flow in and out of each other, recorded and written between her bedroom in London and her grandmother’s house in Yokohama, Japan.
all songs written and performed by Hinako Omori
mixed by Cherif Hashizume mastered by Matt Colton
artwork by Emi Takahashi
photography by Luca Bailey (assisted by Aris Roussos)
styled by Kingsley Tao (assisted by Sam Richardson) hair by Moe Mukai
make-up by Machiko Yano
tracklist
01 both directions ?
02 ember
03 stalactites
04 cyanotype memories
05 in limbo
06 epigraph...
07 foundation
08 in full bloom
09 a structure
10 astral
11 an ode to your heart
12 epilogue...
13 stillness, softness
“cyanotype memories” music video
directed by thomas harrington rawle & cathal mckeon
starring chihiro kawasaki
edit/vfx/grade by thomas harrington rawle & cathal mckeon
dop - thomas harrington rawle
lighting by richard brade
title design by emi takahashi
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