A
Spirit Fest
album always feels like a fond meeting between old friends -- because it is. When they started making
Mirage Mirage
,
Markus Acher
Cico Beck
, and
Mat Fowler
joined
Saya
and
Takashi Ueno
at their Tokyo home studio in late 2018; to finish it, all five met in Munich the following June. Three albums in, the reunions and separations that bookend the band's creative process can still be felt and heard in their music.
is steeped in recollections of those who are dear, but not near. "Yesteryears" invites listeners in with drifting folktronic reminiscences; "Hi Ma Wa Ri"'s singalong and fading piano chords evoke how good times turn into memories; and "Mirage" captures the deja vu of meeting once again with the bittersweet brilliance
Acher
honed with
the Notwist
for years. Beyond its gently heartfelt musings,
is a testament to the rewarding joys of making art with friends. With songs such as "Circle Love," a breezily elegant duet between
Saya Ueno
, and the mesmerizing "Swim Swan Song,"
push themselves into newly polished and ambitious territory. They also add new sounds to their endearing mix of acoustic and electronic instruments, as on "Zenbu Honto (Every Thing Is Everything)," which folds brass, piano, and bubbling synths into its seven-minute swath, and on "Time to Pray," where a lovely marimba flutters behind
's unhurried meditations. Yet this is also some of the band's most spontaneous-feeling music, thanks to the field recordings that add wabi-sabi beauty to songs like "Amadoi."
expand their range of moods just as ably. For every celebration of togetherness such as "Saigo Song"'s tightly linked choral rounds, the band spends time reflecting on loneliness, whether on the forlornly graceful instrumental "Mohikone" or "The Snow Falls on Everyone," where miles of distance can't stop
from sharing an experience with someone close to his heart.
's winding songs and generous length give the impression of a meeting between friends who have lots of stories to share and don't want their time together to end. After hearing this beautiful, heartfelt album, listeners will have that feeling, too: even as
's music grows, the friendship that called it into being is what makes it special. ~ Heather Phares