Ichiko Aoba has released ‘air’, a hushed new collaboration with composer Taro Umebayashi that brings the natural world directly into the recording.
Created at Studio Richter Mahr in the Cotswolds, ‘air’ was recorded shortly after Aoba’s Royal Albert Hall performance. Field recordings captured at dawn on a spring morning sit within the track, with birdsong and the surrounding landscape becoming part of its quiet architecture.
The song emerged during a deliberately relaxed session with Umebayashi. Rather than returning to the heavier themes of their previous collaborations, the pair followed the mood of the moment, allowing a conversation between them to gradually shape the lyrics and direction of the track. Engineer Toshihiko Kasai captured the session.
‘air’ arrives through Sounds Right, the global music initiative led by the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live and EarthPercent, the environmental charity co-founded by Brian Eno. The project has established NATURE as a credited artist on major streaming platforms, allowing royalties generated by the music to flow directly into biodiversity conservation. More than 200 artists have collaborated with NATURE since the initiative launched, including Hozier, AURORA, Ellie Goulding and a David Bowie and Brian Eno collaboration.
Aoba’s involvement has a personal connection. She spends part of each year on Hateruma in Japan’s Ryukyu Archipelago, where she has witnessed damage to coral reefs and the effects of plastic pollution. The island and surrounding ocean have also fed directly into the worlds of her recent albums ‘Windswept Adan’ and ‘Luminescent Creatures’.
The release comes ahead of another Australian visit for Aoba this October, including a headline performance at the Sydney Opera House. After a world tour that has taken ‘Luminescent Creatures’ through the Royal Albert Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall, ‘air’ finds her working on a much smaller scale: a studio, a spring morning and the sounds happening just outside.
