Following on from her 2019 debut album, Calista Kazuko has released a new single, 内 Uchi, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere it right here on Backseat Mafia today. It’s been a busy time for the former student at London’s Royal Academy of Music, as she’s worked with NHS staff in a project called Notes from the Frontline which included contributions from the likes of Eric Clapton and Sting, while she’s also in the midst of penning her first feature length piece of music-theatre with playwright Stephanie Martin, premiering in Spring 2022.
For Uchi, Kazuko was inspired by the stories of displaced families and unaccompanied children when working with the charity Migrant Help. She told us “I’ve loved working on the Uchi project with the incredible charity Migrant Help, celebrating people’s stories and ‘inner homes’. Getting back in the studio after the year we’ve all had was so special. Uchi pays homage to my Mum’s Japanese maiden name 山ノ内 ‘Yamauchi’ (inside mountains) and I’m super excited to become a Mama myself soon! I wanted to pop out a song before popping out the baby so this is dedicated to our little Uchi!!”
There’s something of the Fiona Apple, even Kate Bush about the track with its harmonies and grand gestures – piano figures here and theatrical chorus’s there. Built on these gluey synth chords and pulsating drumming, it’s adventurous alt-pop, as it moves through ideas and a succession of gloriously addictive melodies with ease.
Check it out, here
