Crowded Streets, Empty Bars

TOMC, a Tokyo-based artist, has consistently explored the role of ambient music in the context of urban life throughout his career. In his 2022 work Music for the Ninth Silence, which connects life in Tokyo with Carl Jung's theories and features tracks each timed at 4 minutes and 33 seconds, and in his 2023 soundtrack MORAL, based on the iconic play by Koharu Kisaragi that reimagines 1980s Tokyo, TOMC has continued to delve into this relationship. His latest work, Shared Senses, is the culmination of these efforts.
Urban life is characterized by countless people crossing paths, surrounded by various elements, where small dramas unfold within each person's daily existence. This album attempts to give form to the many abstract voices that float through city life. For example, in the two major tracks that define each side of the album-Shared Senses and True Blue Parade-TOMC employs a "poly-BPM" technique, where multiple tracks with differing tempos intertwine in cycles. This technique captures the subtle beauty and poignancy of fleeting encounters and missed connections in urban life. Furthermore, the interludes of En and Crowded Streets, Empty Bars feature a unique three-dimensional sound design, crafted using the free software Audacity, which seems to bring the textures of the city to life. The album also includes Opera City, a track inspired by the real-life Tokyo area spanning from Nishi-Shinjuku to Sasazuka, where reality and imagination crossfade seamlessly.
Side A of the album, in particular, portrays the delicate emotions of people living in the city. Madoisen stands out as a track that draws inspiration from the song Goin' Home by Dvořák/Fischer, a familiar piece often played in Japanese elementary schools. This track, in its warmth and tenderness, encapsulates TOMC's gentle approach and perspective throughout the album.
On the other hand, Side B takes on a more cinematic view of the cityscape. Crowded Streets, Empty Bars, inspired by a line from the lyrics of The Blue Nile, offers a prime example of this dramatic shift. The album concludes with En II, a reprise of the opening track En, which celebrates the lives and activities unfolding within the urban landscape.
In conjunction with the release of Shared Senses, Kankyō Records has partnered with GRRRDEN, a Tokyo-based DJ and practitioner of plant therapy and raw chocolate, to offer a special essential oil blend alongside the album. This scent, designed to evoke the transparency and clarity of the album and its urban theme, provides a fresh accompaniment to what can be considered a new milestone in urban ambient music.