by David Wilikofsky
I first heard of NTsKi late last year as part of one of my favorite albums of 2020, Subscription Double Suicide =Zero=. That compilation, described as “seeds of hope for the coming post-pandemic parties”, was a selection of tracks from the Japanese electronic underground that felt like a light in the early days of lockdown. NTsKi might be better known here in the US for her collaborations with musicians associated with Orange Milk, such as Giant Claw and Foodman. After years of collaborations and shorter releases, she’s now putting out her debut album, Orca, through Orange Milk and EM Records. Featuring songs recorded over the past five years, it’s a portrait of an artist exploring the possibilities of her sound.
As a whole, Orca presents a kaleidoscopic vision of pop. Some tracks feel retro; “Parallelism” reminds me of Japanese art pop groups like After Dinner, and “1992” shares a certain ease and light funk with city pop. Others feel futuristic, such as the wobbly “Lan Se” or off-kilter “Kung Fu”. Whatever mode NTsKi is operating in, the album shines brightest in the moments where she knocks the listener off balance, making music that on a surface level sounds familiar but becomes stranger the closer you listen. The beats on the aforementioned “Kung Fu” are created by a chorus of breaths, gasps, and sighs, contrasting with her mellifluous vocals. The sweet melody of “Plate Song” is quickly undercut by a mechanical rustling that changes the entire feel of the song. These unexpected sounds and textures feel fresh and new, a melding of ideas and sounds from the electronic underground into pop structures.
The album ends with a remix of “On Divination in Sleep” from Giant Claw, transforming the uneasy slink of the original into an orchestral rendition straight from the uncanny valley. It’s a fascinating fusion of NTsKi’s pop instincts with some of the synthetic classical composition found on Giant Claw’s Mirror Guide from earlier this year. It’s also not the first remix of NTsKi I’ve heard; a remix of “Labyrinth of Summer” was the track included on last year’s Subscription Double Suicide =Zero= compilation, there a post apocalyptic club banger and here a breezy, reggae tinged pop song. The fact that this remix closes the album doesn’t feel accidental at all. As a whole, Orca is an album that portrays NTsKi as an artist discontent to sit still, throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Maybe this remix points to a new direction for her music; maybe it’s just a one off. No matter the outcome, I’m excited to find out where she goes next.