Photo credit: Luca Bailey (click for high res)
“Deeply tranquil… A dreamy world indeed.” - Electronic Sound
"Immaculately crafted." - 8/10, Clash
“A record filled with familial abstracts, so textured you can touch it. Maximalist but bare - and wholly considered - every gut-wrench is left in, smoothed out and stronger for it.” - 9/10, Loud & Quiet
Today Hinako Omori has shared a blissed out, cerebral remix of "foundation" by experimental composer, Claire Rousay.
Taken from Hinako Omori's album 'stillness, softness...', which came out late last year on Houndstooth, "foundation" is a glacial piece of synth pop, which she describes as "a letter to ourselves on trusting our intuition and inner guidance to lead us along our unique paths." The Claire Rousay remix vaporises the track into a heady, intoxicating piece where dense swathes of sound wrap around brittle, chopped up beats and hyper-digital flourishes.
Hinako comments: "Claire has turned “foundation” into a sonically galactic journey, seamlessly metamorphosing from mysterious granular experimental pop with a new verse into a beautiful evolving ambient cloud symphony - it also totally took me by surprise to hear my speaking voice at the end, which I later realised is from an interview from a couple of years ago. I love that Claire has weaved this into the audio tapestry, and am so honoured to hear this song through her vision.”
Claire Rousay adds: "When Hinako first asked me if I would be interested in remixing a track from stillness, softness... I was quick to agree. In my mind I would select one of the less beat-oriented tracks and deconstruct it then blow it back up into an ambient remix. As I mulled over this idea in my head I came to the conclusion that in doing this, no boundaries would really be pushed and ultimately nothing new, for either of us, would come of this collaboration. After this realization I decided on the track foundation. I had never done a more pop-leaning remix before and certainly not one where I would be working with so many low frequencies. Turns out, this was the right move. foundation in its original form is a pop-forward but meditative track. The remix is still heavily influenced by the lyrics and inspiration behind the original but also was influenced by sounds I was currently listening to on the recent 03 Greedo, Young Thug, underscores, umru, etc. releases. On paper, the remix may not make sense but in practice it is fluid, stable, and the true definition of collaborative."
Listen to "foundation (Claire Rousay remix)" here: https://hth.lnk.to/hinako-claire
The Claire Rousay remix of "foundation" follows last month's bright and crisp remix of "cyanotype memories" by Hot Chip's Joe Goddard - listen here.
Since 2022’s critically acclaimed debut album, ‘a journey…’, Hinako Omori has fast become one of the UK’s most compelling breakthrough musicians, blurring the lines between classical, electronic and ambient. Omori’s potent blend of therapeutic frequencies, drones and her ethereal falsetto connected: she has since supported Beth Orton, Anna Meredith and Ichiko Aoba, played with a 60-piece orchestra for BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified and joined Floating Points’ esteemed ensemble at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles to perform Promises, his collaborative album with the late Pharoah Sanders.
If ‘a journey…’ was about healing others with its soothing sounds, ‘stillness, softness…’ unexpectedly became one of healing herself. Omori was particularly taken by the idea of our shadow selves – the dark parts of ourselves that we keep hidden – and the need to reconcile with them in order to break free. Whereas Omori’s debut was largely instrumental, here the vocals are front and centre – “it’s more vulnerable,” she nods – as she opens up on themes of dreams versus reality, solitude, reconnecting with who you are and, ultimately, finding strength in yourself.
Listen to ‘stillness, softness…’ in full: https://hth.lnk.to/stillness-softness
Hinako Omori live:
16.05.24 “stillness, softness…” for piano, strings and harp @ St Peter Bancroft, Norwich (Norfolk & Norwich Festival)
Hinako Omori is currently touring as part of Shabaka's band. Live dates here.
Links:
http://www.hinakoomori.com
https://www.instagram.com/hinakoomori
https://www.facebook.com/hinakoomori
https://twitter.com/hinakoomori
https://soundcloud.com/hinakoomori
https://hinakoomori.bandcamp.com |
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