Written by Spike Sidor

WINDSWEPT ADAN

Ichiko Aoba Windswept Adan Review Album Cover

ICHIKO AOBA

2020 FOLK/AMBIENT/CHAMBER-FOLK

Windswept Adan is the newest release from Japanese folk songstress Ichiko Aoba. Aoba has been releasing music for several years, nearly all a minimalist but gorgeous take on western style folk, made with only her voice and deftly played acoustic guitar. At face value, it is strange. Most folk music relies heavily on storytelling and lyricism. As a non-Japanese speaking listener, that aspect of her craft is impossible to appreciate and, yet, her work is unbelievably captivating.  My first encounter was way back in 2013 with the album 0 and then shortly after with 0%. These LPs blew me away, meticulously crafted songs with the star that is Ichiko’s singing. I could write pages upon pages about her voice, it’s easily one of my favorites. It has a quality that is strikingly idyllic, soothing to such a degree that I’ve recommended her music by saying that if I could only hear one voice for the remainder of my days it would be Aoba’s.

Windswept Adan, of course, retains her picturesque articulations, and there are tracks that are akin to her previous work, but there is also much more variety. A bevy of additional instrumentation accompany Aoba, all manner of strings, woodwinds, keys, synths, chimes, and more make their way into the songs. The busier tracks are best described as mystical chamber folk; it’s like a walk through an ancient forest teeming with beauty and thick an otherworldly air. The diversity is not only in the tools, but in the compositions. Aoba channels these added players in the several serene ambient soundscapes throughout the runtime to magnificent effect. The album opens with the aptly titled Prologue. The track features a bellowing synth, field recordings of waves, twinkling chimes and vocal harmonies that give this song a stunning but subtle texture.

Pilgrimage takes the sound toward the aforementioned chamber folk. Plucky guitars and Aoba’s signature singing weave together with strings and woodwinds and the result is breathtaking. Porcelain pulls at heart and mind as a simple guitar line forms the base on which Aoba spins magic. The strings rise and fall in ethereal loops while the woodwinds hop in for playful jaunts. The vocals give the instrumentation space to show the listener that Aoba’s divine tones have found an equal match. The guitars are slow and methodical on In Easter Lily. At first gently accompanied by bright keys and vocals. At about the halfway point, familiar strings and layered vocals rise in transcendent fashion. This track’s beauty cannot be overstated. Parfum d’etoiles is my favorite of the interludes, contemplative piano keys and field recordings of birds and leaves crushed underneath foot with the faintest vocals from Aoba make a sonic landscape that pulls us deeper in her whimsical world. It is followed by the ambient vocal trip, Kirinaki Shima. Although Aoba’s voice is as beautiful as a placid winter lake. At only a minute and a half in length it’s a good idea that isn’t stretched.

Sagu Palm’s Song is a simple track of guitars and vocals that would fit right into older releases like 0. The guitar notes sound mildly muted; played with the utmost delicacy. Chinuhaji marks the first time on the album I’m not in love, a bit of looped noise, a constant  angelic synth is about all that this track has to offer and it quickly grows old. Unlike its predecessors, it overstays its welcome . Pensive guitars are scattered about like rose petals in the wind on the gorgeous Chi no Kaze. Aoba’s half-whistled breathy inflection, has a fairy tale charm. We are graced with surprising regal tones on Hagupit. Prominent strings play gloomy notes generating an atmosphere that I’d dub overcast baroque. Dawn in the Adan is an irresistible track that showcases everything spectacular about the album. It’s an epic tale of quickly picked guitar notes combining her old stylings with the new. There are so many wonderful pieces in the mix: little vocal accents, bright piano keys, and strings that glide through the clouds. I adore this track. It is one of my favorites of the album, hell, even the whole year. The album continues to kill it on Ohayashi. Syncopated keys build up as instrumentation is added one by one. It’s a cool flight through an autumn night until it shifts with rapid acoustic guitar picking that continually builds speed as deft percussion backs it. Once things hit terminal velocity gossamer keys enter, then, sudden silence.

The closer, Adan no Shima no Tanyosai, sends off the record flawlessly. Aoba’s vocals are terrific paired with weeping strings. It is a sorrowful farewell but not overtly sad, more like the pain of a temporary departure. At four minutes in, the instrumentation drops out and we are left with field recordings of waves lapping at a shore, bringing the listener back to the opening track. It may, in fact, be a more audible version of the same piece. It wraps up the experience just right, returning to the start to reflect on the sights and sounds of a journey that weighs upon the soul. Windswept Adan is an enchanting album, it’s an adventure into a fantastical realm, an afternoon spent mesmerized by a shimmering pond in a lush woodland, every detail almost unnaturally pristine. This release cannot be recommended enough, Ichiko Aoba is at her creative apex and Windswept Adan is the astonishing result. 

9-10/10

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