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HINAKO OMORI shares new single “Snow”
Today London-based artist Hinako Omori has shared the final pre-release single from her forthcoming debut full-length album, ‘a journey…’, which comes out next Friday,March 18th through Houndstooth.
‘a journey…’ sees London-based sound engineer Omori experimenting with the physical and psychological effects of different frequencies, meditating on healing and soothing sounds and taking inspiration from the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or forest-bathing. It’s a delicate and warm record, glistening with light, as Hinako’s otherworldly vocals drift over organic textures carved from field recordings and analogue electronics.
Speaking on new single “Snow“, Omori comments: “It’s the last song on the album – a love letter to anyone that might need it” and offers the song’s lyrics:
I tried to visualise
what it was like through
your eyes
But all I could see
closed in on me
the fragility
I wish I could let you know
that every passing moment
will fall like the snow
Not settling
disappearing without a trace
before you
Let me be your eyes
let me guide your light
through the darkness
Let me be your eyes
let me shine a light
on your darkness
I promise there’s a way
You can also listen to Hinako’s recent session with Alison Cotton for BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction (link) and her All Queens playlist for Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC 6 Music (link).
Bringing together therapeutic frequencies, forest bathing, and binaural sound, ‘a journey…’ combines inner healing and natural landscapes into in an immersive cartography of the mind in delicate electronics. The album progresses not track by track but as a continuous journey; a stream of consciousness tracing hills and valleys with the warmth of analogue synthesis and Omori’s voice always close at hand. It is an album with a spirit and awareness, that invites us to create a home within its sonic architectures, to find moments of peace amid our own cognitive distortions.
‘a journey…’ was recorded at Omori’s home studio and Real World Studios, when Omori was an invited to perform at the immersive online festival WOMAD At Home. Before the mixing session she headed out into the surrounding landscapes, capturing field recordings with a binaural head. These spatial, 3D recordings are woven throughout the album, and situate each track in different environments, from waterways to forests in and around the Mendip Hills. “I’ve been thinking a lot about shinrin-yoku – forest bathing,” explains Omori. “Being in that environment reduces stress levels, it’s good for well-being, improving our memory and concentration, boosting our immune system and lowering blood pressure, among many other benefits – I wanted to incorporate that into the album.”
Omori is also fascinated by the physical and psychological effect of frequencies. “I’m very interested in sound therapy, brain entrainment and how certain frequencies can put our brain in certain states – alpha, beta, theta, delta,” she explains. “Delta (0.5-4Hz) waves for example are said to contribute to deep restorative sleep and healing, and theta (4-7Hz) to creativity, intuition and emotional processing.”
Omori detuned oscillators to create binaural beats, syncing to the Hz of our brainwaves so that listeners might further find themselves calmed by and immersed in these soundscapes, as a sort of sonic bathing and deep listening. Within this highly tuned and deeply relaxing sound world, Omori’s vocals drift in and out, offering signposts and poetic lyrics that act as Rorschach-like motifs so that listeners might find their own narrative in the record.
‘a journey…’ will be released on March 18th via Houndstooth.
Hinako Omori will play London’s Southbank Centre with London Contemporary Orchestra on March 19th – details here.