Sawako
Madroomi

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On Sawako's third full-length album, Madoromi, (a Japanese word which loosely translates to the state of being between sleep and waking) she
presents a narrative universe of spacey, dreamy in-between-ness. Working through the woozy shift of the album's arc one emerges at the other end
with a return to a physical world decidedly of the present tense. Filled with contrast and dynamics, Madoromi firmly places Sawako at the forefront of
the softly colliding aspects of the digital and organic - showing that she manages to hang in the fold between these worlds, and access each with
aplomb.
Subtle electronics frame abstracted instrumental source material (vibraphone, guitar, cello, music box) and a variety of real-world sound (random
objects, distant, disembodied voices and the occasional presence of Sawako's faintly whispered vocals). With tracks like "Uta Tane" and "Far Away,"
she highlights the acoustic elements, where editing, bending and stretching - rather than obscure the natural beauty of the sound for the sake of
finding something new - help to further bring out the qualities that were quietly hiding beneath the surface. On songs like "Kira Kira" and the album
closer, "Tiny Tiny," Sawako uses chimes and tones that twinkle and pop, reminding one of hazy memories recalled through developed and
reconfigured memory banks.
Existing somewhere between the art gallery, the headphone commute and the bed-time ritual, Sawako's sound traverses boundaries such as digital
minimalism, ambient and electro-acoustic - arriving at a singular approach which feels both mental and tender - restraining itself from going too far in
either direction. Finding the melodies within the melodies, the fragments are assembled into soft, resonating compositions that combine all the fragility
of a lone person playing toy instruments in their room with the technological prowess of skilled DSP processing. These qualities add up to a warm,
moody, forward-minded balance, which defines Sawako's music
Track listing: 1. August Neige 2. It's Not On Purpose 3. Uta Tane 4. Passepass
5. Appled Soapbox 6. Kira Kira 7. Purple Sky Coming 8. Far Away 9. Tiny Tiny