STUCK in his apartment in Tokyo due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, composer and producer Shintaro Haioka resorted to making music.
Longing for a return to normalcy, he tapped into his memories of life before the pandemic and put together the 11 tracks for his third album, Aru (Emerald & Doreen Records), which has just been released and is available on the music streaming services, Spotify and Apple Music.
The album’s title is translated into “Existence” and the cover art by Bunsho Nagata reflects the same theme.
While the bustle and sounds of a vibrant Tokyo may have been muted by the pandemic, like many global cities, drawing upon his memories and translating them into music have served as a panacea for challenging times.
Haioka has also taken his field recordings of his Tokyo environs and, together with his albums and recordings, created NFTs.
For Haioka, the music was pieced together over a six-month period. It was the second effort after he felt the first round of compositions were not suitable.
The only track to survive this culling is the haunting Yoru Wo Koete, performed by Yu Ishigaki.
Haioka talks to STORM-ASIA about his new album of hope for a post-pandemic time.
