A pseudo-eclectic solo album offering from former Cibo Matto member Miho Hatori is a mellow attempt at something great. The only thing is that I’m not so sure she succeeds. A gentle blend of electronics, live instruments and Miho’s jazz style vocals and offbeat lyrics make for an interesting listen at times, reaching for places that most artists don’t go, incorporating strange sounds, a heavy influence on world music styles and electronics, but utterly falls short, sounding familiar to what Bjork did on “Homogenic” and albums prior.
Balinese, Caribbean, samba, Indian, jazz, spoken word, and tropicalia are just some of the musical styles you will find dotted throughout this album. “A Song For Kids” takes Balinese drumming and turns it into dance music while “Barracuda” makes use of various Brazilian influences, which she has prior experience with (see her collaboration with Beck guitarist Smokey Hormel called Smokey and Miho). But in the same way that taking so many musical directions helps Miho Hatori make a pretty interesting album, it also hurts it by being too scattered and varied, making it directionless and not as interesting as it could have been if she just chose a few styles like Brazilian and jazz and stuck with it. “Ecdysis” is a mellow album that sounds pretty but ultimately the songs don’t go anywhere and get boring pretty fast. |