MAAYA SAKAMOTO - Yunagi Loop

The almond-eyed little sprite is back. A crystalline, shy artist. A playful, secluded girl. With her albums steeped in magic, she has built a career made of light and love, smiles and happiness. Passing through the masterpiece "Nikopachi", a shimmering collection of precious, emotional songs, all the way to the album "Lucy", the touching voice of an earthly angel. "Yunagi Loop" is a dream. From end to beginning, one after another, the songs begin and end without any apparent break, her voice embroidering skies of dazzling colours, the instruments merely a backdrop, chimes for a celebration at the foot of a lush mountain. Lying down in a meadow, admiring a flower in bloom, and taking these songs to heart. The instrumental embroidery of the composer (who has written Maaya's songs for years) is precise and imaginative, never a predictable turn, never a note out of place. Classicism absorbs digital convulsions, they merge piece by piece, and create an untouchable creature. Yoko Kanno, who is essentially a composer of classical music and film scores, recalls a little what happened when Morricone, Umiliani, Piccioni and many others took on "pop" and wrote pieces for famous performers: it's academic training grappling with a genre, pop, which at first glance seems so distant but is in reality so open, so chameleon-like, so absorbent that it keeps reinventing itself, hybridising with any other genre, and in this encounter with "compositional classicism" it is rendered flawless and technically impeccable.

The most interesting thing is that this encounter makes it flawless on an emotional level too: Kanno, as mentioned, is also a film-score composer, she knows the conventions of the genre inside out and knows exactly which kinds of harmonic progressions, for instance, can stir a particular feeling in the listener, whether experimentation manages to slip into a song without upsetting its balance, adding only emotional pathos.

In short, if Sakamoto sings a song in which she says "life is beautiful", rest assured the music will gladden your heart - it's music that, empirically and scientifically, even if you don't like the genre, will change your mood. Listening to Sakamoto's albums in chronological order, you can trace the evolution in Yoko Kanno's arrangements, of which this latest record is perhaps the summation. Starting out with an almost entirely cinematic brand of pop, with heavy use of orchestral instruments, strings and horns, she evolved over time, first expanding her instrumental palette to include electronic and digital sounds, then seeking the perfect balance between the two, right up to this record, where the digital component predominates - yet it's as if, along the way, it had fused with the orchestral element, so much so that the arrangements on these songs sound thoroughly classical despite being steeped in electronic touches, synthesised strings, 90s-sounding keyboard pads: all things that would usually give a track a very strong character, a precise placement in time and even in space.

Kanno and Sakamoto's tracks aren't like that: it's the classical side that absorbs the pop, then devours it from within, and in devouring it becomes classical music itself. "Hello" is a keyboard note repeating cyclically, background excrescences niggling away, her voice intoning words that come from the heart, a guitar strumming happily and carefree. Bowed strings seem like little insects fluttering schizophrenically, pauses charged with dreamy pathos, the ending arriving hopelessly to break an unspoiled atmosphere.

"Honey" is the sublimation of the Kanno-Sakamoto duo's art. Simple, precise beats, synthetic strings coming and going, a faint, moving vocal from a Maaya in ever finer form. A continuous alternation of pauses charged with pathos, a catchy, perfect chorus, an aestheticising union of sparkling spirits and mischievous arrangements.

"Loop" is keyboards locked in a swirling embrace, Maaya never stops impressing, her singing exuding feeling with every word. A drum beat like a marching tune dictates a limping pace, guitars strum playfully, electronic fizz bubbles through the air, embroidering vividly coloured patterns. "Wakaba" is a ballad written by the seaside, with the wind lashing at the words breathed out in a faint voice. Little hearts sweetly in love, kisses that last a lifetime, enveloping embraces. This song will soothe your soul and coat your heart in a thin, adorable patina. Counterpoints from an aleatoric piano, "concrete" strings, touches from a machine with rounded edges. "Paprika" is a composition played off to one side, almost a little tune for a budding love.

We move through the finely woven pop/rock ballad "My Favourite Books", cross the emotional lullaby of "Tsuki To Hashiri Nagara" with our hearts in our hands, and let a few small tears of joy fall during "Aisurukoto".

Once again a classicising soul merges with the digital component, with a perfectly calibrated result, in "Unison", amid synthetic strings, booming drums and Maaya's voice reaching unattainable heights.

"Fuyu Desu Ka" is a carefree, playful song. Horns form a perfect, perfectible backdrop, percussive embroidery of meticulous finesse, words intoned with a touching approach. The title track is the manifesto of Maaya's music. Small piano notes played cautiously, a lingering moog, tiny guitar notes, an infectious chorus, a pure and intense spirit.

A small, imaginative vignette closes things out, like "A Happy Ending".

Maaya is back. The heart wants what it wants. Let it pulse along with these songs.

Ride the wave of great music

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30/04/2026