Philokalia

yojik to wanda's third album, released in 2015.
An album that takes the miniature, beautiful yet bittersweet world of their debut Dreamland (2010), adds the strong and expansive band sound they developed on their second album Hey! Sa (2012), and triples it. Drawing from a wide range of global music-from pop, dance music, and samba to electronic sounds-the album is uniquely mixed (with wanda in charge of the mix), but at its core are the melodies and vocals, primarily sung by yojik.

- Track Highlights -
The first track, One-Room Dancin', is an upbeat number that received praise for its animated music video featuring a dancing white cat and black cat (created by Atelier Koshka).
The second track, Beloved Anna, is a mysterious samba-flavored song led by wanda on vocals-he also dances in the MV.

The third track, Te no Tsuku Asobi, bursts with speed at over 180 BPM.
The title track Philokalia features a groovy four-on-the-floor drumbeat by itoken (from Otomo Yoshihide's Special Big Band, etc.).

The A-side closes with the heartfelt ballad Yuri no Hana, highlighted by a standout trumpet performance from MC.sirafu (of Kataomoi, etc.).
Then comes track six: a rendition of The Water Is Wide, a traditional Scottish folk song that has been covered by musicians around the world.

Kyrie showcases a beautiful interplay between Masanori Hattori's (NRQ, etc.) bowed contrabass and Yuuki Yoshida's echoing erhu.
The elegant Romeo features Yoshida's mandolin, wanda's classical guitar, and Yujin Okano's flowing piano.

After the short instrumental interlude Polka (track nine), the album reaches its grand finale with the last track, Talisman.
Basic recordings for tracks [1-4] were done by Hiroshi Ueno. Produced by yojik to wanda. The CD was released under the label Compare Notes.