REVIEW- MIHO HATORI- BETWEEN ISEKAI AND SLICE OF LIFE

At the end of Miho Hatori‘s latest solo outing “Between Isekai and Slice of Life“, the music ends and you can hear her utter ‘what the fuck is going on?’. A question that feels overtly appropriate, both in context of referring to the multi-layered art pop album that preceded it and as a statement about the current situation of the world.

Unlike Hatori’s previous solo album ‘Ecdysis’ which felt more of a career overview of her work in Cibo Matto and Gorillaz, this new LP really takes her music to adventurous and playful new heights. The extreme colourful sounds can probably be attuned to the concept as a whole, Miho Hatori herself says that the album is inspired by the two different genres of anime- Isekai (basically meaning ‘other world’) and Slice of Life. The New Yorker, living through the pandemic claims these types of anime are what got her through, and wanted to bridge them to real life, and created a kind of ‘safe space’ with this album, as stated in BOMB magazine.

The record eases you in relatively painlessly, with the understated, downtempo opener ‘Tokyo Story‘, which while being quite comforting also has a vague creepiness to it- Miho Hatori is reflecting the state of the world- and it’s supporting MV really brings the theme into fruition, where you see her removing a mass amount of facemasks from her face one by one. It’s followed then, by the hard hitting ‘Formula X‘, which has one of the most amazing beats I’ve heard in a long time. From this point the album really picks up the pace. Hatori characteristically plays and experiments with rhythm throughout the rest of the album (without ever losing pop sensibility), and ultimately manages to create a tight 29 minute package that feels meatier than albums twice it’s length.

Other album highlights include the playful ‘19 Years Old‘, banger ‘Don’t Be Cheap‘ and my personal favourite ‘Desire‘. The album’s fast, mechanical pace really slows down for the closer, ‘I Told Ya‘, which feels like more of a reflective piece, both confounded and quietly hopeful; an eerie send-off to an album that is already an amalgamation of complex emotions.

8.5/10 Miho Hatori really has delivered one of the first great albums of 2021 here- and fans of her earlier work and newcomers alike will no doubt find something brilliant amongst the complexities, beats and personal reflection presented here.