Yama Warashi – Crispy Moon

Album Review by Laurie Presswood | 23 May 2022
  • Yama Warashi - Crispy Moon
Album title: Crispy Moon
Artist: Yama Warashi
Label: PRAH Recordings
Release date: 27 May

Every 2022 album release has been shaped by pandemic society (how long will it be before music journalists run out of new ways to say a song was written during a lockdown?), so it's unusual at the moment to hear songs about busy streets, or seeking out places to be alone – but here enters Yama Warashi. 

Crispy Moon journals the Japanese artist through a period of adjustment after moving to London, and tracks like Makkuroi Mizu (まっくろい水) and Yuru Yuru (ゆるゆる) deal explicitly with resisting the city’s hustle and bustle. This locational shift is matched with a musical one, and as a result the album is much fuller sounding than Warashi’s first two solo efforts – the instrumentation is more filled out and there’s more movement to the tracks. We also hear more of the global influences that have always characterised her work – there’s unmistakably a touch of reggae in the guitar up-beats of Makkuroi Mizu.

The album is at times a bit thin melodically and most of the vocal lines rely a bit heavily on repetition – a pattern that is highlighted every time the instruments and singer are in unison. But that being said, the album is anchored throughout around gentle but solid grooves, and whenever the rhythm section gets to lead is when Crispy Moon is at its best.

Listen to: Saku Saku (サクサク), Umi No Mon (海の門), Yuru Yuru (ゆるゆる)

http://yamawarashi.com