Akira Kosemura - How My Heart Sings

Yes, this Japanese master of the ivories returns with an album stuffed to buggery with his particular take on sentimental flourishes, sudden lurches into delirious waltzes & more contemplative outings, like 'Gray', all delicately glazed with the sorrowful tug & drape of violin. It's an album often infused with a dreamy melancholy like the majority of piano-based albums. When played in this manner, the old Joanna don't half tug at your heartstrings or cause you to reach out and grab a freshly fluffed-up chocolate box kitten to dry your bloated red sobbing face with. To be fair, there's not many solo piano albums that can hold my interest long - i'm too punk for that hahaha eh Business Lady? Too punk! Say, what a bundle of mischief I am! So the late night, smoky regret of 'Pluie Fruid' with it's tender jazz undertones and the other violin-laced track - the ultimately joyous 'Light Dance' both move me to a higher plan of enjoyment. It's all very passionately done but does err on the terribly sentimental at times. How many times have I thought of leaves blowing in the wind or watching the gradually fading silhouette of a loved one fading into the distance whilst listening to this latest collection? Sweet though, all wrapped up in a tidy little hardback photo book!