Because I am who I am, I had a bunch of topical posts done and lined up before we even left for our trip to Hong Kong and Japan last month. And of course life being what it is, I forgot about them. Or some of them. Well, one of them. This one was meant for that last day in Japan before heading home, but in the rush of it all and the jet lagged aftermath, it just sat in drafts and I didn’t post anything for a week. But I’ll just get it up there now – in reading, try to imagine I’m still in the land of konbini chicken cutlets and multi-story record stores.

One of the reasons we chose the Kansai region for this trip to Japan, rather than returning to Tokyo, was because we didn’t have time for Kyoto last time. And so this time is all Osaka and Kyoto and maybe Nara and also Nagoya, which is not in Kansai but is home to Legoland Japan. And while there aren’t as many bands from the area as, say, Tokyo, there are still some, and they’re worthy of attention.

For example, ヨツドメノディ – which is Yotsudome Noddy in English but more importantly Yotsudomenoddy on streaming services and translates to I have no idea what – are a three piece who hail from Kyoto. With one EP to their name (whatever that name is) – 追憶 was released last March – and have bobbed up and down on my radar for a little while but have only started to pay close attention recently, particularly with their recent “Telomere” single, which is absolutely worth listening to but while it seems a video is coming, it’s not here yet. So I’m making introductions with an older song, “Escape”, which dropped in September. It’s a little slower but still showcases the band’s strengths, which are frontwoman Seirai’s vocals and their ability to explode when they need to.

Said Seirai of the song:

Based on the image of a fantasy world like the fairy tales I read as a child, I created this piece with the theme of “a changing world and myself, escaping to the next place. ” The first half of the piece uses gentle arpeggios to create a dreamlike floating feeling, while the more intense playing in the second half expresses the sense of urgency as the story draws to a close.

Seirai, ヨツドメノディ

And here’s a recent live rendition; the video description is where the above quote came from.