People do tend to take a dig at legends from time to time. But with Haruomi Hosono, that’s never been – and still isn’t – on the cards. After all, the founding member of Yellow Magic Orchestra and sketch show creator has achieved so much in his career that any critical questioning must be nipped in the bud with a resounding ‘Chapeau!’. Yours Sincerely is the 78-year-old’s 23rd solo album. And him? He just lets it flow. Ten miniatures brimming with tenderness and weirdness that defy every cliché about Japanese pop music that has built itself up over the decades.
What a start! The opener ‘Note of Mothership’ could just as easily have heralded a reboot of Yann Tomita’s Doopees project, but instead simply demonstrates just how much feeling and passion the musician has poured into this project to become his own band. Hosono sounds like wanderlust, wringing out rudimentarily mimicked pseudo-standards to such an extent that the essence immediately seems to want to be poured back out with bubbling water. It’s a proper hullabaloo between colourfully painted longing and glossy 4-track DIY. It’s unclear whether Haruomi Hosono still sees himself as part of any particular tradition. The surprising moments from Japanese music in recent years – which have found their way into our record shops not least thanks to the persistent digging of The Notwist’s Micha Acher – fit perfectly into the picture, though. The world over there, us here. Let’s get on with it.
