The Yokohama-based band Luminous Orange has been around since 1992, and their new album Sakura Swirl is a perfect showcase of the expertise and talent accrued over the last 15 years. Formed and fronted by female auteur Rie Takeuchi, LO clearly take great inspiration from the first wave of UK shoegaze as well as the guitar pop and electronic music from Cornelius and his contemporaries in the Shibuya-kei movement. (In fact, Cornelius’ Trattoria label released some of Luminous Orange’s first material right before it dissolved in 2002.) But Luminous Orange are not stuck in recreating the past: they have radically altered their genetic material to form a brand-new sound.
At points, the new album Sakura Swirl sounds like a respectful tribute to My Bloody Valentine: airy vocals float above heavily-layered wall-of-sound guitars drenched in a bog of resonant reverb. Other songs, however, sound as if Rei left the rest of her band in the studio to hole up in her house and record more private and delicate material. Some tracks are hybrid of the two contrasting forms: equal parts guitar pop and wall-of-sound shoegaze. The change from the high-fidelity sound of a full band to the bedroom recording style somehow avoids discordance and actually builds upon the strength of the work as a whole. Indeed, Luminous Orange have proven with this record that they can play in just about any setting, with just about any tools and instruments at their disposal, and for any occasion or mood. While everything on the record falls roughly under a broad shoegaze classification, the subtle tweaking of sonic qualities within individual songs and more grandiose alterations from track to track makes the whole production much more compelling than just pure throwback… every influence, goal, aspiration, and message the group wishes to communicate flows out in a beautiful and compact manner.
The album’s development is absolutely stunning: the first track – which shares the album’s name – sets the scene with charming, sweet lo-fi bedroom rock, awash in a wall of sound. “Every Single Child” builds upon that style to take it to almost anthemic heights, while “Silver Kiss” allows the band to show its true colors with summery vocal harmonies, light guitar strumming, and seductive, meandering guitar and keyboard lines. In fact, it sounds very similar to British shoegaze tracks of the 90s … perhaps something by the Pale Saints! It should be no surprise then that Ian Masters (of the Pale Saints) sang on and helped write and record the song. This is a welcome gift in the middle of the album and manages to perfectly match the overall flow of the record. The rest of the album explores new permutations of variables that the band set up earlier, making each track sound familiar and accessible, but exciting and new.
Over the course of the album, Luminous Orange reach a fork in the road at the end of each song and cautiously decide which alley to take: Will it be a little bit of shoegaze? Or maybe guitar pop? Perhaps some space-pop bedroom recordings? There is something invigorating about reliving this perfectly-played Choose Your Own Audio Adventure. So embark today on the odyssey of Luminous Orange’s Sakura Swirl!
