Hakobune In Arboreal Whispering

I’ve always thought of Hakobune’s music as something like a video game safe zone, the save point at which you can rest, take stock and generally whittle away the time. His long tonal snoozes have existed many times over at this point -- many of them on Constellation Tatsu itself -- and here they continue to suggest the same kind of distantly dramatic imagery. The deep drones of ‘In Aboreal Whispering’ suggest a warm, safe environment with the places it’s safeguarding you from just in sight.

That’s partly down to the business of Hakobunes music, which is unbelievably still and slow, but writhing with overtones. Much like the ambience of Kyle Bobby Dunn and Alex Cobb, his music becomes more hissy and multi-directional the more you focus on it, suggesting disquiet underneath the shimmer. Twelve minute opener “Airworthy” moves its chords at an unbelievably slow pace but suggests something ominous far away from its blissful comforts.

The lovely “Intransigence” is ultimately brighter, its foggy raising of tone sounding something like Stars of the Lid eating snacks outside of a service station on the M6. It gives way to the record’s longform title track, which is a warming but noisy piece that seems to stitch together the two pieces before it into one full piece. The whole record is lovely, and proves there’s far more to Hakobune than meets the eye -- if you’re willing to get lost between the layers.