After collaboration with Beck and Yasutaka Nakata, female rapper DAOKO recently released her 4th studio effort “Anima”.
DAOKO was featured on Beck’s song “Up All Night” in 2017. Daoko is the first Japanese musician who has collaborated with Beck. And on her third album, Perfume’s producer Yasutaka Nakata and one of the most influential Vocaloid producers Kenshi Yonezu (米津玄師) wrote songs for DAOKO.
But on her fourth album “Anima“, released at the end of June, DAOKO worked with her old friends and new musicians she respects. DAOKO comes back to the basic and looks for new horizons at same time.
For example, the whole album was produced by Akito Katayose, who also produced her first album in 2015. On the other hand, the title track “Anima” was written by contemporary classical musician Shohei Amimori (網守将平).
In an interview for Natalie, she explained that “Anima” means life or soul in Latin and the origin of animal. The song, written with Shohei Amimori, was named after the psychological term of Carl Gustav Jung.
“While recording,” she said, “I have been thinking: music is prayer, music is a subtle light. Our souls might see the god when our emotions are moved by something, or when we see a landscape we’ll never forget.”
When she was in high school, DAOKO used to spend hours on video sharing websites. Now she has been reading many books on philosophy, psychology, biology and animism. As a result, she puts her soul into her music.
Stream “Anima” LP on Spotify.
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