ハイスイノナサ (haisuinonasa) craft soundscapes: warm and gentle soundscapes to which every instrument brings its own rhythm, melody and sometimes even time signature. To the uninitiated this might seem like a description of a complete mess, but their awareness of sound design is such that it works wonderfully.
Their most recent release since 2013’s reflection single, 変身 (Transformation) consists again of three tracks and an accompanying live DVD. The title track has you falling through arpeggios and then stumbling over polyrhythmic bright staccato piano while Kamano’s vocal picks you up and keeps you afloat.
This is familiar territory for the band, who chop between comprehensible and fairly mad with apparent ease, and the same is found throughout the single. In second track ‘地図に無い街’, they add strings and something like a marimba to the mix, to beautiful effect; a 7/4 breakdown half-way through gives them space to demonstrate just how well they can make the instruments talk to each other.
Third track ‘ブラインド’ (‘Blind’) stands out for breaking newer ground: a thumping 9/8 rhythm loops throughout a much darker, more dissonant track. Dark as in, a train rumbled past during the intro and I thought it was part of the song. Then a funky guitar line enters, reminding me of fellow countrymen jizue, and a little later comes of the more startling piano lines I’ve heard (and I’ve been listening to a lot of jizue, Mouse on the Keys and Tigran Hamasyan lately).