Ironomi - Himorogi

Kitchen.
(KI037-1: 645637175228/KI037-2: 4532813343136)

$27.00

Release date: 3/17/2023

LP and CD both in stock and shipping now.

Himorogi is the tenth album by ironomi. Divining Japanese mythology and its relationship with nature, the new album is an aural pastorale that fosters deeper territory in the realm of spiritual searching through dreamy, drifting piano, 17-string koto (jūshichi-gensō) and new form electronic processing.

ironomi’s desire to commune with mother Earth and its season’s colors has always served as a continual inspiration for their music. In himorog, the duo delves into a more spiritual focus in their journey towards musical impressionism. Japanese culture has long held the idea that heavenly spirits live in many elements of the natural world, such as mountains, rocks, trees, and the sea. The album title comes from the Japanese word Himorogi (神籬), which in Shinto terminology is translated as "divine fence," which refers to sacred areas that a celestial spirit enters.

Six songs were created in chronological order, ama-saki (Bloom in the Sky), yume-asobi (Playing in Dream), sakura-ame (Cherry Blossom Rain), hibiki-sora (Echoing Sky), ama-yadori (Rain Shelter), chumu (Abstract Nil Space). On each, they move organically in the nature they were recorded, as rain connects the sky with the Earth, giving life to it with blossoming flowers. Once the hues of autumn bid their farewell, another life cycle begins. Rather than arriving at a state of tranquility, the idea is to reach a state of ‘nothingness’ as suggested in the zazen-inspired chumu.

Junya Yanagidaira’s sublime, elegant phrasing of subtle polyphony and melodic piano lines fall like rain through a picturesque blue horizon over calming koto sways by multi-instrumentalist Yu Isobe. Flashes of sunlight momentarily refract through the water’s surface in the form of bright starlit keyboards, at times weaving child-like melodies of enchantment. The lightest touch of koto strings seems to hover and balance the murmur of a garden stream. It beckons you closer as the gentle caress of the music awakens your inner senses. Hhimorog will remain timeless because the duo created music that absconded with time and place with their endless visions of beauty.

ironomi releases HIMOROGI on 24 February 2023 via KITCHEN. LABEL. Available on clear vinyl LP, CD and digital formats (LP arriving in Q2, 2023), with artwork by Japanese photographer Kisei Kobayashi and design by KITCHEN. LABEL founder Ricks Ang. Katsunori Fukuoka mastered this record at Flysound in Japan.

Tracklists:

CD Version

天咲 ama saki
夢遊 yume asobi
桜雨 sakura ame
響空 hibiki sora
雨宿 ama yadori
抽無 chumu

LP Version

A1. 天咲 ama saki

A2. 夢遊 yume asobi

B1. 桜雨 sakura ame

B3. 雨宿 ama yadori

B4. 抽無 chumu