Track Of The Day Japanese Heart Software
Addictively popped up at the end of last week, most likely taking its name from Estonian shoegaze wonders Pia Fraus, Japanese Heart Software is the one-girl project of Nat Chippy, the lead guitarist and singer of Melbourne 4-piece VIM, who has just released her debut 5-track cassette EP “Lonely Hearts”.
Unlike the essentially jangly guitar-driven pop of her band, Nat’s solo venture is a subtle blend of electric instrumentation and electronics gently doused in reverb and blurred by lo-fi veneer to create a soothing, warm and winding aural pleasure that meanders its way through hazy and dreamy sonic landscapes engulfing elements of dream-pop, chillwave, synth-pop, shoegaze and psychedelia.
“Something” is the most rhythmic and less electronic of the lot with alluring West Coast flavours. Propelled by sturdy tight backbeats, washes of reverb-infused glistening and piercing guitars draw hypnotic somber melodies that bleed into ethereal swooning yet floating vocal harmonies interspersed with lush Byrdsian flair, ecstatically drowned between loss and longing, nostalgia and regret, as sinuous, dense, wistful bass notes pulse in the foreground, lost in distant bittersweet memories blurred into a melancholy haze.
Three mesmerizing minutes of riveting pop charm, but the whole EP will leave you helplessly affected and captivated.
Make yourself a favor and grab a gorgeous pink-infused DIY cassette and limited edition art print at JHS Bandcamp.
