Japanese vibraphonist and marimba player Masayoshi Fujita returns with his new album Migratory, where his sonic explorations into the unknown continue. The record is set for release September 6 and features Moor Mother and Hatis Noit. Fujita has shared the first, synth-lead single from the record, Tower of Cloud.

On the track, Fujita said "'Tower of Cloud' took form when I was preparing a live set for a tour a few years ago, and it evolved as I played in Europe and Thailand. The synth riff gives me a late summer feel and reminds me of cumulonimbus clouds, and I can see a swallow drawing a circle in the sky to the marimba melody.”

As with Bird Ambience, Fujita continues to be inspired by our feathered friends. The album’s title, Migratory, originates from an image that came to him of migratory birds, travelling somewhere between Africa, Southeast Asia and Japan, imagining them hearing the music from the land underneath, and how their point of view of the world from above blurs the boundaries of music and land.

Expanding on this, Fujita says: “these ideas and images were inspired by my experiences of living abroad and returning to my homeland, as well as by the artists featured on this album who also somehow travelled or lived in other countries across the boundaries, and being influenced by the music of other lands but at the same time somehow led to their roots.”

Nature has always been a source of inspiration for Fujita, and on Migratory it takes centre stage. You can hear it on the album’s peaceful and considered field recordings, but most importantly, Masayoshi highlights – “nature is there as the image to be evoked by the listener from the music.” On the record’s sleeve notes, written by renowned novelist and travel writer Pico Iyer, we learn about the Japan that he hears as he sits down and listens to the music. It educates and encapsulates us, in the same way Fujita’s imaginary birds vividly depict the essence of musical migration.

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· stream the new singles