H To O

Old friends H. Takahashi and Kohei Oyamada imagine the birth and collapse of the universe on 'Cycle', forming humid synth perspirations into beatless back-room grooves that land somewhere between Manuel Göttsching, Lorenzo Senni and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Facta & K-LONE’s Wisdom Teeth imprint continues its busy schedule of 10 year celebrations with the debut LP by H TO O: a new collaborative project by Japanese ambient artists H. Takahashi and Kohei Oyamada.

Already an established name on the Japanese ambient circuit, Takahashi is well known for founding the much-loved Kankyō Records label and store in Tokyo’s Sangenjaya district, and for releasing a string of acclaimed solo LPs on revered record labels like Where To Now? and Dauw. Having been introduced to Oyamada through a mutual friend, the pair began recording together in 2019 as part of the live electronics group Atoris. Cycle marks their first release as a duo, and signals an exciting new direction for their creative work together.

Set across six distinct movements, the LP maps the different stages of the cosmic cycle through a series of dynamic ambient set pieces: from the exponential expansion of the universe in its infancy - here invoked by the bright, chiming album opener ‘Inflation’ - through to it’s inevitable collapse and rebirth, captured by the record’s driving, ominous closer, ‘Ever’.