The famous may be in Toronto right now for TIFF, but the otaku will be at The Horseshoe for the next two nights as this year’s edition of Next Music From Tokyo kicks off. The four-band lineup of Japanese indie acts is always a mix of new and familiar (assuming your frame of reference is being a regular on /r/japanesemusic), but I’m especially excited to see J-pop rising stars ハク。(Haku.) again – they played/headlined the fest last year – and this year’s shoegaze entries, 揺れるは幽霊 (yureruwayurei).

I’ve celebrated the Okayama four-piece here in the past and genuinely love everything they’ve put out so getting to see them live is something I’ve been looking forward to for almost a year, since I learned they were on the festival’s radar. Their debut EP Mnemeoid made my 2025 year-end list on the strength of just 16 minutes (20, if we roll in the “Echoes Of Fading Girl” single).

I hoped there’d be more new material by now, but we’ve gotten only one new song this year, “From”, which came out in July. Whereas Mnemeoid tackled themes of loneliness and isolation from a nautical/oceanic perspective, “From” decides that’s still too crowded and instead turns to outer space for inspiration. On release, it was described as:

This song, which expresses the vastness of the inorganic universe, incorporates contradictory elements: deliberately creating a sense of closeness to convey vastness, and deliberately including human-like sounds to convey inorganicness. This combination of elements enhances the song’s persuasiveness.

@Oaiko_info

There’s also an expansive interview with the band about their origins, aesthetic, process, and how “From” fits with their previous works:

[Oaiko] 揺れるは幽霊 Interview @ Note

There’s no video for the song, but there’s enough going on in the artwork to keep you occupied for four minutes while the song plays.