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(2017) Itoko Toma - when the world will mix well
Review:
Itoko Toma issued her 2010 debut album, Dreamtime, on Masaktatsu Takagi’s Felicity label, but judging from the sound and style of her follow-up, When the World Will Mix Well, there would seem to be no better home for her music than Akira Kosemura’s Schole (her first appearance on the label came about when she contributed vocals to his 2010 Grassland release). Toma’s forty-minute collection features ten vocal and instrumental songs that the Kurashiki-based pianist has fashioned in many cases as elegant chamber-classical settings, and though the Japan-born artist is joined on the album by string players (violins, viola, violoncello, and contrabass) and guitarists (guitar and pedal steel), these exceptionally pretty songs primarily feature her piano and vocals.
Toma’s uncluttered style serves the material well, allowing as it does the beauty of the songs’ oft-wistful melodies to shine through without interference. A blend of heartfelt instrumental and vocal pieces, the album’s effectively framed by the instrumentals “For Us” and “Cantabile.” In the first vocal setting, “Shorebird,” her soft voice glides over flowing arpeggios in a way that convincingly evokes the image of a bird drifting on the wind with the sea’s waves flowing below. “Row, Row” grows haunting when Toma echoes her own utterance with a faint reprise; “Clearly Clear” proves entrancing when delivered at a slow and sultry tempo.
The album’s filled with exquisite moments, among them the lovely vocals-free coda that ends “Shorebird” and “Horse from Parallel,” a beautiful, soul-stirring ballad that sees her voice ascend rapturously to a higher register. Album producer Kosemura arranged “Fantasia,” which sweetens Toma’s voice and piano with a lovely string arrangement; French pianist Quentin Sirjacq also contributed a string arrangement, in his case to the gently soaring “When the Word and the Heart Will Mix Well.”
Tracklist:
01 - For Us.flac
02 - Shorebird.flac
03 - Fantasia.flac
04 - Come, Open, Join.flac
05 - Horse From Parallel.flac
06 - Row, Row.flac
07 - Clearly Clear.flac
08 - Esquisse.flac
09 - When The Word And Heart Will Mix Well.flac
10 - Cantabile.flac
Summary:
Country: Japan
Genre: chamber pop, classical
Media Report:
Source : CD
Format : FLAC
Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : ~ 413-661 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits |
