*Edition of 200* With Kokoro no Kibi, Shoko Igarashi deepens her exploration of atmosphere and introspection, weaving ambient electronics with understated jazz motifs and fragments of Japanese melody. Released via Totalism, the album stands as a reflection on emotional complexity, translating the everyday subtleties of feeling into sound. Drawing on her background in jazz performance and her cultural influences from Yamagata to Brussels, Igarashi crafts pieces that unfold with patient restraint, favoring textured synth washes over overt virtuosity, and allowing improvisational voices—saxophone, flute, occasional piano—to drift through each track in gentle dialogue. The instrumental palette moves nimbly between organic and synthetic: keyboards pulse softly in minimalist counterpoint, while field recordings and tape effects blur the lines between memory and present experience. Pieces such as “Hizame”, “Usuhanada”, and “Hatoba Murasaki” create inviting sonic spaces, highlighting Igarashi’s gifts as a sonic colorist as much as a melodic inventor, and gently invoking the spirit of Japanese anime soundtracks and contemporary Black music traditions. The album’s thematic threads remain understated yet poignant, never striving for grand statement but inviting careful listening and nuanced reflection.
Beyond genre, Kokoro no Kibi is mostly about connection—between traditions, cities, and identities. Igarashi’s compositions are spare yet evocative, speaking to a sense of place and internal dialogue, a balance between stillness and motion. Vinyl and digital editions offer listeners both immediacy and depth, the music quietly resisting categorization while maintaining a universal accessibility. In a landscape where ambient works often dissolve into background, Igarashi’s album encourages active engagement with detail and emotion, repaying close attention with gradual, unfolding revelations. The release marks a mature step for a composer whose interest is in subtlety over spectacle, inviting each listener to inhabit the “delicate nuances of the heart”—a phrase whose resonance subtly underpins the gently shifting textures and improvisational spirit of the record. Kokoro no Kibi ultimately stands as an honest, informal meditation on feeling, place, and presence, offering a sound world where complexity is honored but never forced.
