LOLOET - Circle of Echoes (2026)

When I listened to this album, I didn't know the story around it. But apparently LOLOET is a project centred around Ayaka Wada, a j-pop singer and an idol known from girlsband Angerme, who decided to create... ambient pop? How cool is that?!  What's more important, the effects are fascinating: the slowcore, jazzy and experimental pop feels both artsy and fun to listen to. This February, the band released their debut album and it's definitely worth checking out.

Wada says she wanted to make music "that resembles the paintings of Mark Rothko" (yes, those bright and colourful minimalist and abstract pieces) and I... don't see it. I mean the abstraction is certainly there, but this music is far from minimalism. But it's very, very possible I don't focus on the right thing, I have no idea about paintings. My point is that music here is very, very rich. Yes, it may start as ambient background, but it quickly evolves into jazzy and neoclassical structures that ripple around and change shapes all the time while Wada's soft and airy vocals charm their way into the listeners' hearts.

It's such a fascinating journey this album: you can't guess what's going to happen next. Some compositions are vocalless and they are magical too (I'm looking at you, les yeux) and some become a poetry reading that touches upon important, sociopolitical themes. The thing that makes this music special is also the use of trumpet sounds: Chan keng's doing what he can to add this trumpet charisma to the compositions without overwhelming the listener, which I really appreciate.

Circle of Echoes costs 15 EUR ( ¥2,800).

Check: Le matin

Country: Japan

Genre: slowcore/ambient pop

Label: Kankyo-ON

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