Yusaku Arai
a two
Worship
/
2023
LP
28.99
WILL002
Incl. poster
Incl. VAT plus shipping / Orders from outside the EU are exempt from VAT
Tracklist
1sky, sky. copy
2白日 copy
3手の断片 copy
4ocean, sea, ocean. copy
5なぜなら : mimicry, green, mimicry copy
6あ : a copy
7親密さ copy

The Kyoto-based musician Yusaku Arai is known for his production work in the avant-garde scenes of Japanese hip-hop and R&B. On this solo album, though, he offers more lengthy, piano-centric meditations that use the techniques of musique concrète.

Arai’s compositions on the A-side emerged out of a reflection on the corporeal and interwoven relationship between his own body and things he encountered in the world—the ocean, a flower petal, a plastic sheet, a hand. His intent is to represent a process in which colors gently well up in inside of an object, pass through its entirety—and eventually permeate into the body itself. The B-side consists mostly of a long composition, which is about an unavoidable surplus that crops up in communication, whether of gestures or of language. This narrative work describes humans as beings torn between enthusiasm and emptiness.

The album’s artwork is by photographer Azusa Yamaguchi and designer Hejiro Yagi. Mastering by Sean McCann of Recital.