Blending elements of chill-out, world & down-tempo instrumental music, Moonset Sunrise‘ by Hirogari paints musical pictures of nature inspired by world travels, creating a perfect atmosphere for relaxation & meditation.
Released 11 June, 2014
Available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, CD Baby, Rhapsody, eMusic, 7 Digital, JB Hi-Fi, and many more outlets.
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About the Album
“Boulders” was inspired by the peaceful, yet sometimes-treacherous Babinda Boulders near Cairns in Tropical North Queensland, Australia. Rhythmic pulses mimic the rushing and splashing of waters as they flowing around the tumbles of boulders and rocks. A melody weaves and bobs around as though riding along the deceptively calm looking waters.
Enveloping you in a warm blanket of mellow bass and warm pads, “Warm Dark” features a mix of down-tempo breaks and beats. Written in the magic hour, a smooth track to while away late nights and early mornings.
“Hinode” is a Japanese word meaning “sunrise”. Evoking those first brilliant rays of the sun peaking over the horizon of a glassy sea, turning the violet pre-dawn into an explosion of amber and red, “Hinode” features a combination of the Erhu (a two-stringed spike fiddle from China) morphed with a synthesizer. Backed with rhythms from an Indonesian Gamelan and African percussion, this is one of the standout tracks from “Moonset Sunrise”.
In northern Japan’s Yamagata Prefecture one can find “Yamadera”, a Buddhist temple. In order to reach the main temple hall, a climb of a thousand stone steps is made up the side of a steep mountain face covered in cedar forest. This track mimics that journey towards serenity as a repeated melodic motif morphs through various sounds and layers of hypnotic voices and keyboards.
“Kosumosu” was inspired by the carpets of Cosmos flowers that cover the Japanese mountains in the Tohoku area (particularly Zao range between Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture) in late spring leading into summer. The contrast between really steep mountains covered in green grass with washes of bright colours all offset under a clear, deep blue summer sky is truly amazing.
In “Something”, a simple piano motif swims through a sea of delay, creating a hypnotic mood as keyboard sounds morph around it.
“When The Silence Falls” is a contemplative piano solo, where the importance of the notes played is just as important as the silence surrounding them.
Featuring Japanese drums and soaring choirs, “Glacier” evokes the calving of icebergs from mammoth tidewater glaciers, conveying the ponderous constant motion of these amazingly beautiful geological giants.
Another Japanese word, “Asanagi” means ‘morning calm on the sea’. A wash of choral voices, blended with synthesizers, depict a windless glassy sea being played upon by the light of the sun gradually rising to begin a new day.