Windswept Adan
Ichiko Aoba
genre: folk • release date: 2020
8.1
Ichiko Aoba has a singular grasp on a very specific niche. she glides in on the breath of the wind, never too eager and one with nature. in her music, Aoba defines her art in disparate fashion. some songs come and go like a short breeze, others stick around a bit longer to explore their own meaning. Windswept Adan is probably her most popular album and worth looking in to further here on ⏪︎ rewind. just what is it about Ichiko Aoba that has people so mystified? Windswept Adan is a particularly fragile album. a passive listening experience that can heal. it seems the tighter you hold on to it, the less you might grasp.
across most of the album are vacant, somewhat ambient renditions upheld by interplay of human efforts and more natural expressions. some pieces wield an ethereal mask, ghostly and malformed. others play in mild lucidity, like a lifeline in a dream. then the album slips back into the wild, into an enigmatic existence.
it’s on this enigmatic line that Ichiko Aoba prefers to exist.
i think some people will struggle to find her on her own terms. i think some people will revel in the world she has created. it is as inaccessible as it is wondrous. on some days i find her music frustratingly evasive, on other days i find her music calming and terribly powerful.
one thing is true, Aoba will not shift from her role. a role that will be heard clearly by the end.
placing a finger on any one song will fail attempts like pressing foundation on the sand. up until a certain point, i think the albums is meant to be taken as a whole. a fluctuating and altering collection of songs meant to dip in and out of focus. some songs are more ambient, while other are more human. if not listened to in this way, if not approached in this fashion, the album falls apart.
however it takes an album of minute and transforming efforts to crescendo so perfectly into “Dawn in the Adan.” the linchpin of the album. a purposeful move. up till now it feels as if Aoba has deliberately played aloof. an albums worth of subtle exertions finally cresting the surface with absolute clarity and intention. in this moment i find Windswept Adan to show its true meaning. it’s not the individual song that makes the work, like any usual album, it’s the collective experience. one that fulfills in a single piece. that feels like a pretty large gamble. the whole album is the climb to the summit. one that must be ascended to appreciate the destination.
while i’m a firm believer in the journey over the destination. in this case, the destination, “Dawn in the Adan,” is greatly more compelling than the journey. it’s a haunting song that satisfyingly builds, chord over chord, lyric over lyric. clarity is achieved. the mountain summited. the ceaseless strumming and precise vocal from Aoba feel like a victory. the song stands on its own, only more greatly amplified by the album’s ascension.
in the following two songs, “ohayashi” and “Adan no Shima no Tanjyosai,” does the effect solidify. the murky and the mist have been driven back, the final part of the album exists apart from its first two thirds. the last two songs feel like the prize for all the climb. “Adan no Shima no Tanjyosai” in particular ends the album on a graceful finality. sounds of the ocean crash and bubble upon the beach. something fundamental, something vague lingers over the last couple of minutes.
Ichiko Aoba strives to be a new step in Japanese folk music. in Windswept Adan has she taken her work a full step further, more conceptual, than anything she’s done before. the album is well delivered, a statement of her craft. on the summit of Windswept Adan has she found her own peak. it may not be for everyone, but it is a clear why this is her most well regarded work to date.
written by
Marcus Landeros
- highlights -
Sagu Palm's Song
Dawn in the Adan
ohayashi
Adan no Shima no Tanjōsai (アダンの島の誕生祭)
track list:
Prologue
Pilgrimage
Porcelain
Horo (帆衣)
Easter Lily
Parfum d'étoiles
Kirinaki Shima (霧鳴島)
Sagu Palm's Song
chinuhaji
Chi no Kaze (血の風)
Hagupit
Dawn in the Adan
ohayashi
Adan no Shima no Tanjōsai (アダンの島の誕生祭)
