Metoronori

Originally self-released on cassette in late 2020, the 13-track collection came from an unstable few years for the artist, during which she found solace in the night-time atmosphere of the various Tokyo wards that became her home.

With her musical alias a fun play on words meaning 'metro rider', Evenings is a seamless and insular night-time journey from Metoronori, real name Hikari Okuyama. The journey though isn't charting train tunnels and rail tracks, but various dreamscapes, as underpinned by electronics and hints of free jazz. While musical influences are hard to pin down for a sound so singular, Evenings comes with visual inspiration from esteemed masters of cinema. Songs like the title track and "窓辺の顔 (Face at the Window)" evoke the night-time atmospheres of Michelangelo Antonioni and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. "屋根の上より (From the Rooftop)" meanwhile was inspired by the city nightscapes of Fritz Lang. Surrealism and noir bleed through the sounds, making for the visual texture of an out-of-context movie scene, much like part of a dream.