Review Summary: An atmospheric and blissful journey through dreamy folky goodness.
In many ways this debut full-length from Japanese genre-bender Ohzora Kimishima feels like both a continuation of the themes and sounds present in his earlier EPs and a breath of fresh air at once. The glitchy and spontaneous soundscapes conjured on 2019’s
Gogo no hanshakou and 2020’s
Housou are present in a more subdued and considered form, while the intimacy and delicateness of previous outing
Sode no migiwa’s more conventional take on folktronica informs a large part of
Eitaisuru kemuri’s quieter moments. What this album adds to the mix, aside from a more fully realised rendition of the ideas and themes proposed previously, is a decidedly grander and more psychedelic journey that remains surprisingly cohesive despite the wide sonic palette it is informed by.
Eitaisuru kemuri’s greatest strength is in that journey it creates, and how well its climaxes are lifted up and supported by the softer, more atmospheric tracks that surround them. Take for instance third song
Souchi, whose jubilant euphoria is made all the more impactful by the mellow and acoustic
Tobira no natsu that precedes it. Sometimes these more laidback tracks themselves are standouts, case in point the lush and dreamy soft rock of
19℃, with the breathy and gorgeous androgyny of Ohzora’s vocal performance completing the achingly ethereal haze. As is the case in all good journey’s however, the biggest pay-off is in the ending - closing track
No heavenly is eight minutes of well-earned blissful release channelled through shoegaze-adjacent nineties-alt-nostalgia-core, yet it succeeds at concluding the established kaleidoscopic themes despite the slight sonic curveball.
While some may bemoan the loss of much of the explosivity distinct to the erratic and impulsive sound design found in his earlier releases,
Eitaisuru kemuri makes a very strong argument that Ohzora Kimishima knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to transitioning ideas and influences old and new to a larger scale of project. If this is to be emblematic of the mission statement going forward, then one can only hope it's pulled off as effectively in his future output as it is here.
Recommended tracks:
Souchi,
19℃,
Kaiten tobira no uchigawa ha haru?,
Ikou,
No heavenly.
