Kaibutsu

Asuka Kuroiwa returns after three years with her fourth album, Kaibutsu, following her 2021 release Nagasugita Haru, which featured Seiichi Yamamoto who began his career with Boredoms. This new project marks her first venture into analog vinyl, alongside a digital release.

A singer-songwriter based in Osaka since 2017, Kuroiwa has steadily performed live, including a notable two-man event with Keiji Haino at Shibuya WWW in 2022. For Kaibutsu, she has brought together a band featuring Keizo Suhara (bass), senoo rickey (drums), hama (guitar), and HEAT (guitar). The album unfolds like a story told over time, with songs that evoke the hours from dusk until the dawn when the sky begins to lighten. Blending tracks like the electric guitar-accompanied Yoru no Umi, the album comprises seven songs that weave together her whispered vocals and psychedelic guitar-driven sound. The contrast between the band's vibrant tones and her delicate voice creates an immersive listening experience, like a lone light guiding you through the darkness a deeply emotional and committed work.

"Spell on me, Spell on me.
Let me go before I come to be a monster"

The words you unknowingly placed on yourself can slowly transform into ties that bind without you realizing it. It feels like terrifying. But I believe we could care for ourselves, turning into a gentle and even a monster. How you see it depends on the person. I always be with my phantom. Being who I am doesn't conflict with changing with fears. That's why I created the album, Kaibutsu.

-Asuka Kuroiwa