Midori Hirano
OTONOMA
Thrill Jockey
Kaleidoscopic. There’s perhaps no better word to describe OTONOMA, the engrossing and richly colorful new album from Midori Hirano. Raised in Kyoto and based in Berlin, the Japanese artist has spent decades bridging the gap between classical and synthetic composition, and on her latest full-length, she seems to have settled into a sweet spot where the distinction between those two worlds has been rendered all but meaningless. Whether she’s serving up subdued batches of tinkling piano keys or piloting bloopy treks into synth-fueled psychedelia, Hirano retains an undeniable sense of clarity, both in terms of her creative vision and the aural fidelity of the sounds on offer.
In other words, OTONOMA is not a record where distortion plays a major role, and at its best, it recalls the cinematic elegance of Tangerine Dream. (With its lilting melodies and pulsing momentum, LP highlight “Ame, Hikari” would have been right at home on the Risky Business soundtrack.) Hirano isn’t afraid to go big—“Illuminance” is an majestic suite of spindly, ballerina-like synths, while “Warped in Red” casts its expansive gaze towards some unseen cosmic horizon—but her more introspective asides are similarly captivating. “Oto, Kioku,” for instance, injects a burst of fresh energy into a template laid out by Japanese ambient and environmental music, and “Blue Horizon” combines the warmth of a childhood lullaby with with muted glow of an ’80s synth-pop ballad.
If OTONOMA has a throughline, it’s Hirano herself, and she’s described the album as a collection of rooms, with each one showcasing a different aspect of her sound. Those rooms, as it turns out, have been impeccably put together, and like any good host, Hirano makes sure that even the most luxe spaces feel welcoming to all who enter.