Nakamura Kaho: Creating Music People Resonate with
Nakamura Kaho (26.05.1992–) is a Japanese musician and song writer who lives in Kyoto and studied at Seika University. She originally planned a career as an artist in the visual field but then decided to make music her life’s work. Nevertheless, also her songs are artistically rich and colourful, taking listeners on an emotional journey. In her only album to date, titled AINOU (I Know / I Know You / The You I Love) and released in November 2018, she demonstrates her skills and playful nature by combining compressed vocals with various elements from rap, pop, rock and jazz. Nakamura also sings clear piano ballads like ’長い言い訳’ (nagai iiwake, Why) that not only showcase her beautiful voice but also present her as a singer with profound emotional depth. In general, the album contains many creative moments that keep you hooked until the end.
Listening to Nakamura’s music, you quickly realise that she is less concerned with the perfect end product and more with the journey there, living in the moment. It is exactly that factor that makes her music so vibrant and diverse when compared to other J-pop songs. Because she enjoys experimenting with different compositional techniques and various styles, her pieces take you into a world full of impressions. A song can begin with just one timbre, and towards the end it heads in a completely different direction, e.g. in “FoolFor日記” (fool for nikki, You Fool For) or “She’s Gone”. And yet, her music never becomes too abstract and you can follow her melodies easily. It is important to Nakamura that people can resonate with her music, as she said once herself, which explains the variation. During improvised rehearsals as well as collective singing with the band and the audience, Nakamura’s true art appears: music that moves, that can be experienced, and that allows feelings to flow freely. The longer you immerse yourself in her sound, the more it takes you towards ecstasy, making it resemble a spiritual experience of free impulses. I would go as far as to consider the playful handling of rhythm as well as the triggered sense of community that resembles world music to be a unique characteristic of Nakamura’s work.
Listen to these two songs from the album AINOU and see for yourself what kind of an impression she makes on you:
Kaho Nakamura SING US – ‘Wasureppoi Tenshi/Sono Inochi’ [live version], 2018.
Nakamura’s music knows no boundaries and is not restricted by genre. Additionally, she vocally plays with the language. By deliberately, sometimes emotionally, overloading her singing, her voice becomes distorted and does not correspond to standard Japanese at all, as Japanese syllables are normally equally stressed in pronunciation. This makes her music extraordinary and grants her a unique recognition value. Instead of worrying whether her tones are right or wrong, Nakamura rather is concerned with the forceless expression of music, which creates compositional freedom within itself. In the end, certain tones may sound uncertain, but this makes her all the more human and likeable as an artist – or, in other words, it gives her a certain sense of heartfelt beauty in my eyes. Content-wise, the lyrics are quite abstract, with the Japanese language adding a further level of ambiguity. Thus, her lyrics can be freely interpreted like paintings in a gallery, while her musical expression seems poetic and contemporary at the same time.
Here is a cover that gives you a glimpse into how she improvises beautifully with a fellow musician:
Yuta Orizaka & Kaho Nakamura at Naot Nara – ‘Kururi [Bara no Hana]’ [covered], 2019.
In her expression with the piano, Nakamura may have been inspired by Chilly Gonzales, whom she admiringly addresses in a video which gives a brief insight into her everyday music-making with friends. Collective playing and singing is very important to Nakamura. If nothing else, it reminds me of the morale of jazz, where diverse people come together and make music because that is ‘the only language’ they can use to communicate with each other [referring to LaLaLand]. Therefore, improvisation (or jazzing) is a key element in Nakamura’s work. Everyone rearranges the sound and responds creatively in different ways to create wonderful pieces, seen also in remixes and re-combinations of her own songs like the performance at Drip Tokyo in 2019. At the same time, her band members also have moments of uniqueness, which, together with Nakamura, shape a musical body of common individuality. Watching all of them perform, it seems to be less about singing along and more about singing in general and playing music as well as dancing freely to the rhythm.
Enjoy the following dynamic performance of her newest single LINDY:
Kaho Nakamura – ‘LINDY’ at Uta no genzaichi, 2019.
Also, take a look at her jazzing with friends on a rainy day: https://twitter.com/KIKI_526/status/1353254598618693632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Eprofile%3AKIKI_526&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdigsty.com%2Fkiki_526
I deeply appreciate Nakamura’s creative ideas, which is why I always listen to her music when I need inspiration – not only the album, but also her newer singles such as ‘Rukakan Town’ or ‘q’. Her joy is so contagious that when listening to her while walking down the street, you will groove along involuntarily. Just watching her perform makes you want to make music yourself. I hope that she has a bright musical future and that we can look forward to her next album soon. AINOU is a genuinely artistic experience, so you should definitely give it a listen.
For a few more insights, below is a video of a song from Nakamura’s first album, which she illustrated herself. The video consists of many layers and aims to discover the inner human – an anecdote for life. :)
Kaho Nakamura – ‘Kittone!’ [Official Music Video], 2019.
A wonderful review on AINOU was written by Royce Leong in Tokyo ON. It can be accessed through the following link:
https://tokyophonic.com/featured/2018/11/13/nakamura-kaho-ainou
Written by VZ