Hailing from the seaside communities surrounding Enoshima, a small island located 50 km southwest of Tokyo, Maya Ongaku is a ragtag collective of local musicians, currently a trio of Tsutomu Sonoda, Ryota Takano, and Shoei Ikeda. The name derives not from any kind of ancient civilization, but rather a neologism defined as the imagined view outside one’s field of vision.
The band have announced the release of their debut album from ‘Approach to Anima’, set for release on May 29th via Guruguru Brain. The first taste of the album, track ‘Nuska’, is available now.
Speaking on the inspiration for the track, vocalis Tsutomu Sonoda comments:
“When I wrote this song, the scene I had in mind was a forest covered in thick fog. I find myself there, my vision obscured by fog. As I stand there, stunned, I hear a sound from far away. This sound is the same as the one mentioned in ‘Description of a Certain Sound’, a strange sound with visual information. We continued through the forest in search of the source of the sound. The only thing we know is that the sender is a supernatural being.”
“The sound is inspired by a sound the band actually heard during a trip to the forests of Hakone, in the western part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It is a very deep and heavy sound, different from the sound of the earth. It reached us from as far away as possible. We called the sound ‘Echo of the Earth’. The rhythm that comes from afar at the beginning of ‘Approach’ is an imitation of that sound.”
“The title of the album, Approach to Anima, refers to the source of this ‘echo of the earth’ as ‘anima’ and is a journey in search of it.”
A meditative and peaceful track with almost hypnotic vocals that float with the gentle woodwind anchored by the gently picked acoustic. There’s a flurry of activity full of magical sounds and percussive elements that bring colour and texture. You may find you lose a couple of minutes lost in the tracks soundscape. But its worth it.
Check it out, here
Preorder the album here
