Japanese folk singer Ichiko Aoba, well known for her dreamy acoustic guitar compositions, such as ‘Asleep Among Endives’ or ‘Parfum d’étoiles’, has announced that her new album will be released on February 28. And it’s all about light, because the album is titled ‘Luminescent Creatures’ and is inspired by abyssal fauna, those bioluminescent organisms that live in the deepest waters on the planet.
To compose ‘Luminescent Creatures’, Ichiko Aoba visited the Japanese archipelago of Ryukyu and immersed herself in its waters. Then, the singer “began to realize that the shape of coral reefs changed over time, how they could be affected by climate, and how climate change could affect even remote places.”
Regarding the concept of ‘Luminescent Creatures’, Ichiko Aoba explains that she conceives the album as a continuation of the previous one, ‘Windswept Adan’. That album was the “soundtrack of an imaginary film about a girl who travels from her home to the fantastic island of Adam” (Aoba’s music is inspired by Disney and Studio Ghibli films). In ‘Luminescent Creatures’, Aoba wonders “what would happen after the protagonist of ‘Windswept Adan’ disappeared along with the music of the island’s inhabitants.”
‘Lucifèrine’, the first preview of ‘Luminescent Creatures’, is a new example of Ichiko Aoaba’s approach to the orchestral sounds of the soundtrack. In ‘Lucifèrine’, pianos and strings create an exciting underwater dance fantasy to which Ichiko Aoba joins as another character (or a fish), almost like – effectively – in a Disney movie. In the lyrics, Ichiko sings that “within each of us there is a place for our stars to sleep.”
In 2025, Ichiko Aoba will embark on the ‘Luminescent Creatures’ world tour, a tour that will pass through Spain. The dates are March 10 at the Paral·lel 62 room in Barcelona, and March 11 at the Rambleta Theater in Valencia. Tickets are available.
