Shiina Ringo
Kalk Samen Kuri No Hana

Do you think it's impossible to have a Rock album containing more than 30 different instruments and written in ancient Japanese?
Yet electric guitar, drums, organ, electric bass, hurdy-gurdy, bender, electronic beats, koto, string orchestra, mellotron, telecaster, double bass, flute, violin, didgeridoo, percussion, cello, viola, brass, piano, whistle, harpsichord, horn, shamisen, harmonica, English flute, marimba, harmonium, and the mouth koto coexist in perfect harmony in "Kalk Samen Kuri No Hana" (Chlorine, Semen, Chestnut Flowers), the latest enormous, sumptuous album by the Japanese rocker Shiina Ringo, who has always stood out as one of the genius minds of Rock of the rising sun.
With "Kalk Samen Kuri No Hana" Ringo creates the vision of her world, where ancient Japan and rock coexist in an eclectic and polyglot atmosphere, in search of the "perfect cup of Japanese green tea."

The album begins with "Shuukyou" (Religion), opening with a majestic orchestra abruptly interrupted by traditional Japanese chants, made distant by the echo and the plucking of the koto. However, the album shows that it lives in its own world: the atmosphere of ancient Japan that had been cleverly created is shattered by a distorted drum, a domineering bass, and those same traditional choruses, now exasperated and harrowing. The song then transforms into a musical and suddenly ends with electronic beats and overlapping voices. Cacophony? You might wonder. Instead, every instrument and every intervention of Ringo's undisputed genius is in its place, and it fits perfectly even in sound environments unfamiliar to our way of thinking.
Another highlight of the album is "Kuki" (Stem). Dreamy melodies accompanied by strings and bass, interspersed with pauses of instrumental experimentation, and finally, in the last moments of the track, booming percussion and sustained piano, framed by Ringo's voice that creates a melodic border. Of the same track, the version contained in the single "Stem," sung again in English and accompanied only by an orchestra in the style of 1930s films, is also very beautiful.
For lovers of cartoon and circus atmospheres, there's "Poltergeist." A small organ accompanied by bells, flutes, and even the sound of a passing train shows us a playful and sweet Ringo. The album concludes "mammoth-like," just as it began. In "Sourestsu" (Funeral), Ringo becomes an impassive and cold priestess. The song opens with exaggerated Indian atmospheres, then an imposing organ arrives, and the "coitus" is interrupted abruptly amidst deafening rock, spiced with sinister and distant voices. For those who own the limited edition of the album, there's a final gem: the sweet "Ichijiku No Hana" (Fig Flowers), where an acoustic guitar plays to cradle us along with Ringo's hoarse and almost hesitant voice. A true acoustic lullaby, enriched by some small subdued electronic sounds.

This is an album that belongs to the "Love it or hate it" category. Haven't you found your perfect cup of Japanese green tea yet?