{"id":655218,"date":"2025-03-02T13:00:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T10:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ichiko-aoba-on-luminescent-creatures-whale-songs-and-missing-earth\/"},"modified":"2025-03-02T13:00:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T10:00:30","slug":"ichiko-aoba-on-luminescent-creatures-whale-songs-and-missing-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ichiko-aoba-on-luminescent-creatures-whale-songs-and-missing-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"#Ichiko Aoba on \u2018Luminescent Creatures,\u2019 whale songs, and missing Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content_blocks\">\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<style>\n<p> article.custom .custom-title, article.custom .custom-media .caption {\n   color: #f7edd4;\n }<\/p>\n<p> article.custom .custom-attribution, article.custom .custom-attribution a {\n   color: #f7edd4;\n }<\/p>\n<p> article.custom .content_block blockquote.pull_quote {\n   color: #f7edd4;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268392\" class=\"content_block flush title center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"custom-title\">\n      Ichiko Aoba sings for life in all its forms\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-description\">\n      On <i>Luminescent Creatures<\/i>, the Japanese guitarist and songwriter finds connections between whales, the stars, and the human experience.\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-attribution\">\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Raphael Helfand<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-media\">\n<div class=\" image center_align\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_pyrlhq\/ichiko-aoba-photo-by-a-style-color-ffffff-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michaelleviton-hl-en-michael-leviton-a.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Ichiko Aoba on \u2018Luminescent Creatures,\u2019 whale songs, and missing Earth\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Ichiko Aoba. Photo by <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#ffffff\" target=\"_new\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/michaelleviton\/?hl=en\">Michael Leviton.<\/a><br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"custom_share_buttons_top \" style=\"\">\n<div id=\"new_socials_bottom\" class=\"new_socials_footer  \">\n<p>      <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/FDR_SocialSharing_Facebook-747312c39722d47504a80f02500b8d4ad2e36acf922bad1c83799db1bc77f605.png\"><br \/>\n      <!-- <span>Share<\/span> --><\/p>\n<p>  <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target='\"new\"' href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefader.com%2F2025%2F02%2F27%2Fichiko-aoba-luminescent-creatures-interview%3Futm_source%3Df%26utm_medium%3Dtw%26utm_campaign%3Dshare&amp;text=Ichiko%20Aoba%20on%20%E2%80%98Luminescent%20Creatures,%E2%80%99%20whale%20songs,%20and%20missing%20Earth&amp;via=thefader\" class=\"new_social_footer_button twitter new_social_share_button\" data-ga-event-category=\"Social Share\" data-ga-event-label=\"Twitter\" data-ga-on=\"click\" data-ga-event-action=\"cilck\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/FDR_SocialSharing_Twitter-8d78f695280aa3f8a4461702c68e9fcbfd6042af1600c62d49fdec4b735fb57a.png\"><br \/>\n    <!-- <span>Tweet<\/span> --><br \/>\n  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/logo-snapchat-5f1563935ac089d0cf1773f642ddbfb6cdb16e8c4ac14fec95a3c11b6f963389.svg\"><br \/>\n        <!-- <span>Snap<\/span> --><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268393,  #content_block-268393 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268393 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268393\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <span style=\"color:#f7edd4\" class=\"lead-text\">The music of Ichiko Aoba<\/span> traces the blurred borders between <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arent opposites. On the Japanese guitarist and singer-songwriter\u2019s new album, <i>Luminescent Creatures<\/i>, she sings often of dissolved demarcations \u2014 between life and death, light and dark, angels and demons, the water within our bodies and the water without, earth and sea and sky.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268394,  #content_block-268394 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268394 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268394\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            Aoba knows more about these borders than most. On frequent <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>s to Okinawa and the southern islands of the Ry\u016bky\u016b Archipelago, she dives without gear, disappearing into the salt-water crush. \u201cWhen you\u2019re diving, you can only go as far as your breath lasts, so death is right around the corner,\u201d she tells me, speaking through an interpreter from across an imposing conference table in her American distributor\u2019s Brooklyn office. \u201cIt\u2019s a fearful experience, but it\u2019s so beautiful at the same time. Sometimes I feel like I\u2019m looking at the beautiful vision right before I die.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Beyond this death drive, Aoba dives to surround herself with the bioluminescent creatures of the sea \u2014 creatures that, for one reason or another, have evolved over the eons to produce their own light. \u201cOnce you dive, you see plankton and jellyfish that illuminate in rainbows of different colors; they float all around you like little UFOs,\u201d she says, adding the second half in English.\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268395\" class=\"content_block paragraph embed triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\">\n    <iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2505780720\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/license_id=4262\/tracklist=false\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ichikoaoba.bandcamp.com\/album\/luminescent-creatures-2\">Luminescent Creatures by Ichiko Aoba<\/a><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268397,  #content_block-268397 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268397 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268397\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            Aoba\u2019s fascination with bioluminescent life began by accident. In 2019, she visited Ishinomaki, a port city known for its whaling industry. \u201cI saw them dissect a whale almost every day,\u201d she says. Wishing to see live whales, she traveled south to the Ry\u016bky\u016b Islands. She began her diving expeditions far from shore, in an area where mothers were known to raise their calves. Finding them proved more difficult than she\u2019d imagined, but, as she cast her eyes toward the black depths, she experienced the ocean\u2019s aurora for the first time.\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268398,  #content_block-268398 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268398 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #f7edd4 ;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268398\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left pull_quote\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"pull_quote\"><p>\u201cI want people who have guns to drop them for a second and look up at the sky.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268399,  #content_block-268399 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268399 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268399\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            When Aoba was 18, she moved from her hometown, Kyoto, to Tokyo in pursuit of her first and only musical educator, eight-string guitar luminary Anmi Yamada. As a young girl, she\u2019d tried piano lessons but dropped out after two weeks, uncomfortable with learning an instrument in a group setting. Instead, she taught herself guitar.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            Learning from Yamada was different. By the time her apprenticeship began, she\u2019d already learned most of his songs by attending every concert he played in Kyoto during her mid-teens, inhaling his catalog until it became part of her every breath, and transposing his notes from from eight-string to six \u2014 no easy task for a guitarist with no formal training.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            This practice remained, in some ways, unchanged when Yamada started giving her lessons in person. \u201cMostly, I\u2019d just watch and learn,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes he gave me homework, saying, \u2018Listen to this CD all day and feel the difference it makes at the end of the day, how you play before and after you listen, observing how you change as a guitar player.\u2019\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Singing came less naturally, but she developed a method for overcoming her initial shyness: \u201cWhen I debuted, I\u2019d already separated from Anmi, but whenever I\u2019m singing, I always remind myself of the joy when I was studying with him,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s what drives me to sing. I\u2019m not really the kind of artist who says, \u2018Please listen to my singing voice,\u2019 but I want to keep that memory alive.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            Through Yamada, Aoba found Belgian-French Manouche and Sinti jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt\u2019s <i>Djangology<\/i>; it revolutionized her playing style the moment she laid ears on it. A copy of the CD sits on our Williamsburg conference table, and as she waits for her interpreter to relay her words to me, she carefully picks the spokes from the center of the disc\u2019s jewel case, laying them out in a neat line. When she finishes, she begins to doodle in a notebook \u2014 first a whale; then, above it, a luminescent creature.\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268402,  #content_block-268402 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268402 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268402\" class=\"content_block paragraph image triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoPolaroid1_MichaelLeviton_1_1_1_1_qo87h3\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 640px\" alt=\"Ichiko Aoba on \u2018Luminescent Creatures,\u2019 whale songs, and missing Earth\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Photo by Michael Leviton.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268401,  #content_block-268401 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268401 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268401\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            A few hours later, Aoba sits between two massive industrial speakers in the listening area above Public Records, a multi-room venue a few miles south of the office where we conducted our interview. She wears a flowing silver dress that glints gold as it catches the light of early sunset. Posture perfect, guitar laid comfortably across her lap, she seems completely at ease, despite the language barrier. She greets the small crowd of journalists, publicists, label reps, and friends with a smile and a few words before beginning a 35-minute set comprising songs from her new album \u2014 and one even newer track called \u201cSayonara, Penguin.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            Her guitar and vocals sound just like they do on the record: dextrous and crystalline. It\u2019s hard to believe she\u2019s never had voice lessons. A few songs in, she switches her guitar out for a sanchin, a three-stringed instrument with a snakeskin body, native to Okinawa and its surrounding islands. She uses it to accompany herself on \u201c24\u00b0 3\u2032 27.0\u2033 N, 123\u00b0 47\u2032 7.5\u2033 E,\u201d a song whose title relays the coordinates of a lighthouse on Hateruma, Japan\u2019s southernmost inhabited island. The track is a rendition of an ancient folk song from the island, one she says only locals are allowed to learn. Though she first visited Hateruma as research for an acting role in 2013, she began to spend more time there as the years went on, and the islanders accepted her, inviting her to locals-only festivals and, eventually, teaching her the song. The lyrics of its final verse are in a dialect specific to the region, rendering them incomprehensible to the vast majority of her audience.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            \u201cCOLORATURA,\u201d <i>Luminescent Creatures<\/i>\u2019opening track, takes a similar tack. Mixing snippets of traditional Japanese with island phrases, whispers with breathy coos, the song has many words, but its liner notes contain only a couplet: \u201cTo the lull of a gentle wave \/ Stormbreak, tailwind pushing us.\u201d When I ask her to expand on the lyrics, though, she\u2019s confused. \u201cI never said that,\u201d she insists. The song, she says, is a non-specific spell, an inscrutable puzzle that takes many listens to decipher.\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268403,  #content_block-268403 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268403 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #f7edd4 ;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268403\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left pull_quote\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"pull_quote\"><p>\u201cSometimes I feel like I\u2019m looking at the beautiful vision right before I die.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268418,  #content_block-268418 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268418 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268418\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            At many moments on <i>Luminescent Creatures<\/i> and 2020\u2019s <i>Windwept Adan<\/i>, Aoba regresses to a pre-lingual state, singing pure melodies instead of words. She\u2019s obsessed with whales, who communicate not only with their haunting \u201csongs\u201d but also via underwater echolocation. \u201cThey use wavelengths to communicate, and they\u2019ve been doing that for a long time,\u201d she says. \u201cThey even understand whether you\u2019re pregnant or not but just based on the wavelengths. We could learn from that.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            In a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#f7edd4\" target=\"_new\" href=\"https:\/\/tokion.jp\/en\/2021\/02\/21\/ichiko-aoba-discuss-windswept-adan\/\">2021 interview with the Japanese magazine <i>Tokion<\/i><\/a>, she expounded on her fascination with the origins of earthly communication, billions of years before whales and humans evolved. \u201cThe first plankton to be born must\u2019ve felt startled but happy,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter learning of its loneliness, it must\u2019ve lit itself up to find a mate. I want to carry that plankton\u2019s force with me and live my life. I hope to remain that way, even after my physical body dies.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            Aoba\u2019s desire to demonstrate the shared experience of plankton and humans was the inspiration for <i>Luminescent Creatures<\/i>. \u201cWe all live as human beings on our own, and when we want to connect, it\u2019s not really bioluminescence,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut in our brains, the synapses react to our emotions, and something sparks. That\u2019s the exact same feeling we share with the oldest creatures on the earth. Their existence and our existence are pretty much the same thing.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268419\" class=\"content_block paragraph video triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\">\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FLAG\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A9PoD3QpK8M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n \/\/trackYouTubeVideo('268419');\n<\/script><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268420,  #content_block-268420 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268420 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268420\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            At times, the borders between the songs of <i>Luminescent Creatures<\/i> are clear. \u201cFLAG,\u201d for instance, is a small, closed room in which Aoba sings to you directly, accompanied only by her guitar. \u201cLucifer\u00e9ne,\u201d on the other hand, is like the ocean\u2019s endless expanse; listen long enough, and you\u2019ll find yourself swimming alongside Aoba, staring in awe at the spectacular light show below the surface. Still, there\u2019s no denying these songs belong together. \u201cYou can be totally different and still coexist as one organism, and I wanted to show that,\u201d Aoba says. She carefully constructed most of the record\u2019s pieces between these two extremes, creating \u201ctracks that can wrap around these two songs, like cushions between them,\u201d she elaborates.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268421\" class=\"content_block paragraph video triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\">\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ichiko Aoba - Lucif\u00e9rine\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u2jlWouXz-8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n \/\/trackYouTubeVideo('268421');\n<\/script><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268422,  #content_block-268422 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268422 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268422\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            One such track is \u201caurora.\u201d It\u2019s close to \u201cFLAG\u201d in sonic palette, but its dynamics and harmonies open wider as it goes on, unlocking myriad potentialities in just over two minutes. \u201cNot smoke nor sorrow \/ Look up at that beautiful sky,\u201d she sings. Unlike \u201cCOLORATURA,\u201d she wanted this song\u2019s message to be laid out in plain language. \u201cI made it on the day last year where you could see the aurora [borealis] from most of the world,\u201d she says. \u201cI was thinking about the wonder of this beautiful action happening in the sky, while on the land, so many horrible things are happening. I wanted to remember this day when no matter what was happening on the ground, you could still look up at the sky and see the aurora. I want people who have guns to drop them for a second and look up at the sky.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268423,  #content_block-268423 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268423 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #f7edd4;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268423\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left pull_quote\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"pull_quote\"><p>\u201cWhen you zoom out of the earth, as if you don\u2019t have a body, you start to miss the planet.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268424,  #content_block-268424 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268424 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268424\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            Many of the songs on <i>Luminescent Creatures<\/i> come from the <i>Windswept Adan<\/i> era, a period when the most salient settings for Aoba were the unspoiled Ry\u016bky\u016b Islands and a city in deep COVID lockdown. With no one in the street in Tokyo, Aoba could hear the wind going through the buildings and other surprising sounds that are usually toned down when people are out and about. \u201cI started to notice the power of the land in Tokyo,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize how many birds there are.\u201d As the months went by, she told <i>Tokion<\/i>, her ears physically \u201csoftened,\u201d growing more sensitive to their ambient environment.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            As pandemic restrictions loosened, and she and her collaborators \u2014 composer\/arranger <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#f7edd4\" target=\"_new\" href=\"https:\/\/taroumebayashi.com\/\">Taro Umebayashi<\/a> and photographer <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#f7edd4\" target=\"_new\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tengoyola\/?hl=en\">Kodai Kobayashi<\/a> \u2014 developed the audiovisual world these two albums would go on to occupy, Aoba attempted to remain in this headspace, but Tokyo\u2019s return to its frenzied state often made it impossible to do so. Overwhelmed and unable to access her adopted underwater home, she turned her eyes toward the stars. These giant orbs, beamed into our retinas from the infinitely distant past, overwhelm in almost the opposite way.\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268425,  #content_block-268425 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268425 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268425\" class=\"content_block paragraph image triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/IchikoAoba_Guitar_MichaelLeviton_znczeu\/photo-by-michael-leviton.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Ichiko Aoba on \u2018Luminescent Creatures,\u2019 whale songs, and missing Earth\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Photo by Michael Leviton.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-268426,  #content_block-268426 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-268426 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #ffffff;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268426\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <i>Luminescent Creatures<\/i> closes with \u201c\u60d1\u661f\u306e\u6cea (Wakusei no Namida),\u201d a vocal\/acoustic track in which Aoba\u2019s voice sounds distant but completely clear. \u201cIn dreams I see you tenderly spread the tears of stars,\u201d she sings near the end. \u201cAnd when they overflow, interwoven in space-time, the ripples of stars, here.\u201d Delivered on a deeply lonesome melody, the words are almost too much to take.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            Is it an ode to a last loved one? A <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> lament on the loneliness of the human condition? It depends who\u2019s listening, she says. \u201cFrom the point of view of a human being, this planet is home and we live now. But when you zoom out of the earth, as if you don\u2019t have a body, you start to miss the planet.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThe ocean is the place where you really feel the atmosphere, gravity; you\u2019re closely connected to everything,\u201d she continues. \u201cBut when you pull yourself away, you remember the feeling of living on this planet \u2014 sad things, happiness, everything that happened here.\u201d Whether engulfed in ocean waters or swimming backward through spacetime, homesick for Planet Earth, Aoba reminds us of the light that connects all living things.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Raphael Helfand<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/2025\/02\/27\/ichiko-aoba-luminescent-creatures-interview\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ichiko Aoba sings for life in all its forms On Luminescent Creatures, the Japanese guitarist and songwriter finds connections between whales, the stars, and the human experience. By Raphael Helfand Ichiko Aoba. Photo by Michael Leviton. \u00a0 The music of Ichiko Aoba traces the blurred borders between apparent opposites. On the Japanese guitarist and singer-songwriter\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":655219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/c_limit,w_1024\/c_crop,h_238,w_456,x_164,y_184,f_auto,q_auto:eco\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_lb7hds\/Ichiko_Aoba_by_Michael_Leviton_lb7hds.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[28101,87515,88780,143512],"class_list":["post-655218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-pop","tag-experimental","tag-folk","tag-ichiko-aoba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}