Joe Day
Music Journalist from Plymouth, UK.
Hiro Ama demonstrates the prowess of an obscure 80’s Japanese synthesiser through the lens of a simple, understated single
When I first sat down to write this review, I started off with a whole tirade about why it’s important to steer clear of pretentiousness when creating simple art. I rambled on about why not everything needs to consist of fifty channels, each housing its own ecosystem of effect chains, to be of artistic merit. I scrapped the whole thing, however, once I looked at Hiro Ama’s instagram and realised that he’s probably the least pretentious person ever reviewed. He’s just a dude who like cool sounds.
So, let’s talk about Hiro Ama, the London-based multi-instrumentalist and drummer of Teleman, and why his new single “Music For Peace and Harmony” is really quite good. I want to come right out the gate by admitting that whilst beautiful in its simplicity, I really don’t have a great deal to say about it other than it would make a very nice backing track in a hip new London café, and that Gail Tasker is a lovely flute player.
There’s no doubt that Ama‘s intention is pure; the whole naming convention of the new single is based on the English translation of a very niche piece of equipment called a Waraku, which can be best described as a Japanese synthesiser from the 80’s that does a very good job at sounding really nice. Besides the contributions from Tasker, the entirety of the single’s sound comes from the Waraku. It’s impressive to think that a whole world of opportunity lies in the well-varnished wooden frame of a relic from a bygone era, when synthesisers were in their prime and nobody had heard of Ableton.
Moreover, Ama’s clear intention to develop a piece of music that wholly encapsulates peace and harmony has been pretty well realised. The single (not to mention it’s plucky little b-side companion ‘Sunday‘) is exactly the sort of thing I’d want playing whist I sit under a tree, watching a bird feed its chicks whilst the sun dips below the horizon over a sparkling blue sea.
There is, however, something to be said about over-simplicity. These tracks make such an effort to display the loveliness of the Waraku in its purest form that it sometimes leans more towards a tech-demo than it does an act of artistic license.
Just because I need everything to trigger my tinnitus to get any hope of satisfaction doesn’t mean that this new single isn’t nuanced, gentle, soothing and beautiful. Hiro, if you’re reading this: If you’re planning to do more work with the Waraku, give me a call. I’d love to sit down for a coffee and talk synths sometime.
Listen to “Music For Peace and Harmony” here: