Ichiko Aoba

Mistletone proudly presents Ichiko Aoba bringing her Luminescent Creatures tour to Australia.

Ichiko has the power to bend space around her, pulling listeners from reality and surrounding them in the comforting fabric of her imagination. In recent years, she has tapped into the full breadth of her ability, marrying the classical guitar of her earlier work with lofty orchestral sweeps. Her previous album, 2020’s stunning Windswept Adan, was the soundtrack to an imaginary film about a girl who journeys from her home to the fantastical Adan Island. Praised by the likes of Pitchfork, The Guardian, The Needle Drop and beyond, the album became a word of mouth breakthrough, going on to become the #1 user-rated album of 2020 on Album Of The Year.

For her anticipated follow-up, Luminescent Creatures, she opens an even wider portal into her mind, exploring the origin of life with dreamy musical vistas. “Luminescent Creatures was born from Windswept Adan,” Ichiko explains. “It began when I started wondering what happened after the protagonist of Windswept Adan disappeared along with the music of the island’s inhabitants. What would be left?”

The sea is immense and ancient, mirroring the harsh conditions that life sprang forth from—but it is also reminiscent, housing a deep record of fossils that once swam through its waters and recollections of how we’ve treated our planet. While visiting Japan’s Ryukyu Archipelago and conducting field research, Ichiko was enamored by the boundless beauty—and occasional terror—of the ocean. As she kept visiting the islands and talking with the local communities over months and years, it became something like an environmental survey. She started to notice the shape of coral reefs shifting over time, how they can be affected by the weather, and the way even remote locations can be battered by climate change. She’d go diving with only the breath in her lungs, submitting herself to the whims of the tides. “I feel unable to resist the pull of the ocean,” Ichiko says, “and know how easy it would be for my small body to be swallowed by the sea.” That contradiction, gentleness and power, instilled a sense of awe that is expressed in the soundscapes of Luminescent Creatures.

With ‘Luciférine,’ Ichiko introduces her central theory of Luminescent Creatures: bioluminescence, the light emitted by organisms such as deep-sea fishes. Lush strings and twinkling piano ripple like sunbeams on lapping waves, cutting through the dark expanse of the briny deep. “Inside each of us,” she sings, “there is a place for our stars to sleep.” It conjures an image of creatures pouring off light like celestial bodies, lighting a path to close the distance between galaxies.

Ichiko has been making picturesque dioramas with only her voice and guitar since her debut at 19 years old. She is well known in Japan, having collaborated with artists like Haruomi Hosono, Cornelius, and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. While Windswept Adan connected her with an international audience, the real driving force behind her ascent is her naturally captivating presence. Ichiko’s arresting solo performances are unassuming yet utterly transfixing. No matter where she performs, whether it’s an intimate venue, a festival like Big Ears, or Walt Disney Concert Hall, the entire room looks on in stunned silence, hanging on every breath. She sings in Japanese, but her delicate voice operates on an emotional frequency that pierces through language barriers and cultural divides.

Earning the adoration of fellow musicians abroad, Ichiko has collaborated with and played alongside artists like Japanese Breakfast, Mac DeMarco, Owen Pallett, Pomme, Weyes Blood, and Black Country New Road. However, as her star continues to rise, Ichiko is committed to being her truest self. Her compositions have become grander, her songwriting more refined, yet her ability to make listeners feel like they’re in a private cosmos alongside her remains as strong as ever.