Luminescent Creatures is the ninth full length album from Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Ichiko Aoba. The genre she falls under is best described as folk, although she does incorporate ambient elements on this record as well. She mainly composes music through her guitar, but she plays the piano, clarinet, flute, and accordion as well. So far this year, I’ve heard some great new albums, but I was really longing for something that blew me away the way that Magdalena Bay’s Imaginal Disk did back in 2024. Well, it finally happened. Here are my thoughts. 

   Luminescent Creatures is meant to be a continuum of Aoba’s previous record from 2020, Windswept Adan. While I haven’t heard that record yet, I still found great enjoyment in this latest release. This album is truly a magical journey, and it starts straight from the beginning of the first track, “COLORATURA.” Whether it’s the cinematic violins and flutes, or the acoustic guitar and harp arpeggios that sound like something straight out of a Legend of Zelda video game, the atmosphere is beautiful. The lyrics on this track, as well as on the entire album, are in Japanese. The only lyrics on this track translate to, “To the wave of sails, the wind blows with the Japanese people.” “24° 3′ 26.98″ N, 123° 47′ 7.5″ E,” is a much shorter track, the title which is the coordinates to the Hateruma island Lighthouse, which I learned is at the southernmost point of Japan. “mazamun,” has these glowing keyboards and illustrative unique lyrics. My favorite line is the first of the song, “I can hear you humming from the edge of the galaxy.” The whole vibe of the track just gives me this vibe of being lost at sea and just letting the wind and waves carry me to safety. “tower,” has this foreboding piano melody, and Aoba’s vocals sound especially beautiful on the track. Lyrically, the song is quite literally the embodiment of gazing into a sky filled with stars. “aurora,” is another track with a heavy incorporation of acoustic guitar, and it has this melancholy, mournful like atmosphere to it, which is really reflected well in the guitar arpeggios. “FLAG,” relies on this very stripped back sound as it’s entirely Aoba’s voice and her guitar. The track thematically is about “self-discovery and the passage of time,” according to Genius. It’s the lead single of the record, and the ideas of rebirth painted in her ethereal lyrics are truly gorgeous. After a brief atmospheric interlude, we get another piano heavy track in “Luciférine.” The lyrical picture she paints in the chorus of a child eating the world and the stars, as a sort of origin story for the creation of life, is really unlike anything I’ve heard in the time that I’ve been reviewing music. The gentle bells, guitars, flutes, and strings evoke strong feelings of nostalgia for childhood, where things were simpler, and we could just spend summers at the beach or being lost in video games. “pirsomnia,” is an entirely lyric-less track with hauntingly lovely production and vocal melodies from Aoba that are absolutely angelic. “SONAR,” is one of the more darker tracks lyrically, as Aoba paints this almost apocalyptic atmosphere over pianos and single celesta notes. It sounds spacey and almost like a goodbye letter written by Aoba before the world ends. “Wakusei No Namida,” is the perfect ending to this album, as it follows the cataclysmic theme of the previous track as a direct antithesis to it. Aoba’s comforting lyrics illustrate a world of infinite stars, endless seas and grassy fields. An absolutely grand ending to this record.

   I think what I loved so much about this album was that it truly felt like an adventure for me. A lot of the lyrics are poetically amazing, but they’re also ambiguous. At the end of the day, it’s up to the listener to interpret the lyrics on this project. Instrumentally, it’s one of the most well composed and produced albums I’ve heard so far this year, and Aoba vocally and musically is extremely talented. The style of this record is very much minimalist, but Aoba uses that small metaphorical palette and canvas and ends up painting a Van Gogh level piece of art. I really hope I hear more albums that are on the level of this record later this year.

Overall Score: 10/10

Favorite Tracks: “COLORATURA,” “mazamun,” “FLAG,” “tower,” “Wakusei No Namida,” “惑星の泪,”

Least Favorite Tracks: None

Listen: https://youtu.be/A9PoD3QpK8M?si=zgIwfiG7gnPfWsD8

Genres: Folk/Singer-Songwriter/Ambient/New Age