Cuushe

Combining lighter-than-air vocals with atmospheric productions, Cuushe’s music balances elements of dream pop, ambient and dance in an entrancing, consistently evolving blend. Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Mayuko Hitotsuyanagi’s mix of Eastern and Western influences on albums such as 2009′s debut Red Rocket Telepathy reflects her nomadic lifestyle, but her approach has grown more individualistic on each release. She went in a vividly fantastical direction on 2013′s acclaimed Butterfly Case and reached a pop peak with 2015′s Night Lines EP, yet sounded just as authentic on the deceptively gentle meditations on clarity of 2020′s Waken.
While growing up in Kyoto, Hitotsuyanagi learned to play piano and improvised frequently, but didn’t begin writing her own songs until years later. Following stints in Osaka and Tokyo, she moved to Europe. While living in London and Berlin, she started making music inspired by Boards of Canada and L'Altra in 2008 after a friend encouraged her to experiment with recording software. Her dreamy, downtempo electronic pop was a natural fit for Japanese label flau, who released Cuushe’s debut album Red Rocket Telepathy in 2009. Hitotsuyanagi then collaborated with labelmate Geskia as Neon Cloud, and the duo issued its debut EP Knit late in 2011. Cuushe returned in 2012 with Girl You Know That I Am Here but the Dream, an ambitious triple-EP release about dreaming that featured production by aus (flau founder Yasuhiko Fukuzono) and remixes by Julia Holter, Motion Sickness of Time Travel, Blackbird Blackbird, and many others.
For Cuushe’s second album, 2013′s Butterfly Case, Hitotsuyanagi once again collaborated with aus and Geskia and added touches of dance and R&B to her delicate style. Based in Japan once again, she toured with Grouper and Julianna Barwick during their visits to the country. In 2014, Neon Cloud resurfaced with the Scar EP. During this time, Cuushe also provided guest vocals for artists including the Boats, Populous, and Kidkanevil. Hitotsuyanagi’s music continued to move in a poppier direction with 2015′s Night Lines EP, which she followed with a pair of collaborations with Iglooghost. The first, “Gold Coat,” appeared on 2015′s Chinese Nü Yr, while the second, “Infinite Mint,” was included on 2017′s Neō Wax Bloom. That year, another musician, Ametsub (Akihito Saitoh), began stalking and harassing Hitotsuyanagi and her label; he was eventually convicted of burglary and sentenced to three years probation. After taking some time to recover, Cuushe returned with FEM, a collaboration with Tangents drummer Evan Dorrian that released its debut single “Light” in June 2020. That November, she issued her third full-length Waken, which featured some of her most clearly defined and danceable music. ~ Heather Phares & Paul Simpson