KAHO MATSUI - Nightmare Intercom

Another step forward for Kaho Matsui, a Japanese artist based in Philadelphia, whose discography stands out for its unconventional heterogeneity. A varied approach running through one constant: bedroom experimentation. Not so much bedroom pop, but rather the desire to lose herself between laptop and physical instruments, shaping a language that drifts between intimacy, quirkiness and playful spontaneity. Between indietronica grafts and avant-folk echoes, Matsui's corpus moves through emo-ambient territory and IDM grafts, before condensing into this record, where post-folk streaks are rendered three-dimensional by a languid, faintly cybernetic voice.

More cohesive than her previous work, the album restores the term "amateur" to its noblest meaning. A decisive step forward from 2022's "S/T", which, in trying to flirt with drill'n'bass, showed inconsistencies that weren't always resolved. The acoustic guitar arpeggio over field recordings on "Under" feels like a more mature solution, as do the dream pop openings of "Eyesore", threaded with velvety, slurred vocal work, even if the mix doesn't quite do them justice.

Here and there, curious choices emerge: the near-electroacoustic manipulations running through the record, the nasal-toned vocal inflections of the title track, the deliberately raw mix, close to a digital DIY aesthetic. There are plenty of ideas, surfacing like fragments of a restless dream, but the album sometimes gives the impression of a demo still waiting to come into focus. A poetics reminiscent of Parannoul: beautiful to sense, still to be fulfilled.

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23/01/2026