Cuushe

ゆらめきの中に溶けていくピアノとギター、空気の中に浮遊する歪んだシンセサイザー、拙くも存在感ある歌声が支持を集める京都出身のアーティスト。Julia HolterやTeen Daze、Blackbird Blackbirdらがリミキサーとして参加したEP「Girl you know that I am here but the dream」で注目を集め、デビュー作収録の「Airy Me」のMVがインターネット上で大きな話題となる中、全編ベルリンでレコーディングされたセカンドアルバム『Butterfly Case』を発表。独創的な歌世界が絶賛され、海外の主要音楽メディア／ブログで軒並み高評価を獲得。近年はアメリカTBSのTVドラマ「Seach Party」、山下敦弘 x 久野遥子による「東アジア文化都市2019豊島」PVへの音楽提供や、イギリスのロックバンドPlaceboのStefan OlsdalとDigital21、Iglooghost、Populousらの作品にボーカル参加。長らく自身の音楽活動からは遠ざかっていたが、2020年に新たなプロジェクトFEMと共に再始動し、3rdアルバム「WAKEN」を発表した。

Japanese artist Cuushe stays in constant motion. Raised in the culturally rich confines of Kyoto, she spent the years following childhood in neighboring Osaka before moving to Japan’s over- stimulating capital, Tokyo. Later, Cuushe would make London and then Berlin her home, bringing her first record, Red Rocket Telepathy, into existence alongside the time in Europe. The material was a reflection of her far-flung travels, fusing her eastern roots and more recent western reference points.

In 2012 Cuushe released Girl You Know That I Am Here But The Dream on FLAU, working with the label’s owner aus on its production. Her mesmerizing airy vocals served as the key instrument, underneath it a subtle musical world emerged, carefully wrapped around fragile dreams and memories. Time Out Tokyo declared it the “best Japanese album of 2012.” Her finer work was yet to follow with 2013’s Butterfly Case, which earned Cuushe the attention of a worldwide audience. Her subsequent 2015 EP Night Lines garnered similar success, with EP track ‘We Can’t Stop’ being featured in U.S. TV series Search Party.

Known for her airy, mesmerizing vocals and dreamy soundscapes, Cuushe’s electronic musings across the years have captivated audiences across the world. She’s opened shows for Julia Holter, Julianna Barwick and Grouper. She’s collaborated with Iglooghost, Et Aliae, Kidkanevil, among others, and has had her own work remixed by the likes of Nite Jewel, Blackbird Blackbird, Botany, Teen Daze, Palmistry, Motion Sickness Of Time Travel and more.

DISCOGRAPHY

ALBUM/EP

Waken (flau, 2020)
Night Lines (flau x cascine, 2015)
Butterfly Case (flau,2013)
Girl You Know That I Am Here But The Dream (flau,2012)
Red Rocket Telepathy (flau,2009)

FEM

Light (fastcut x flau, 2020)

PRESS QUOTES

Tokyo dream-pop artist Cuushe has a hidden taste for the unsettling – Pitchfork

There is something quite ultimate about Mayuko Hitotsuyanagi and the music she makes as Cuushe …We read somewhere that Cuushe is taking this kind of music to the next level, but she’s more – The Guardian

Cuushe’s siren call glittering across this softly undulating fabric – Dazed and Confused

one of Tokyo’s coolest singers – The FADER

Cuushe offers an entrancing blend of vintage dream pop, Morr Music-like post-rock and glitch, and the sort of R&B that pours out of stay-at-home sensualists like How to Dress Well – SPIN

galaxy of swirling nocturnal urgency – DUMMY

Cuushe’s music takes on unique shapes and structures with each subsequent release but the thread that ties it all together is a certain mystical quality to her voice. It’s a wondrous sound that is pure and inspiring – Trend & Chaos

When listening to Cuushe, it’s hard to tell if we’re still on Earth – Indie Shuffle

Cuushe is ready to spread her wings into more dynamic grooves…It’s hypnotic and irresistible. – Turntable Kitchen

She sings with alien disguise; a Jonsi-like call to arms that speaks volumes and hones in at an inner peace. There’s a Grouper-like sparseness – Fake DIY

More sun gaze than shoe gaze, and more Washed Out than Cocteau Twins. Celestial, perfectly executed, mesmerizing. – Bandcamp

Cuushe’s unique, beautiful voice and ethereal, beat driven music truly offers a new dimension in dream pop – Fredperry Subculture

Cuushe’s vocals waver, quiver and cling so closely to the music. She breathes fairly indecipherable sentences at a looking glass, they fog formlessly outward before fading away. – Igloo Magazine

Super-vibey dreampop cut with psychedelic electronic blips and gloopy vocals is a combo pretty much off limits to anyone apart from Claire Boucher, but that hasn’t stopped emerging artists from trying in their droves. – The Line Of Best Fit

Cuushe owes a big debt to the Cocteau Twins and 4AD, with dainty dream-pop that works the breathy, twee sheen and Beach House warmth – Liminal

Like The Colourfield crossed with Zero 7, the music of Cuushe is awash with layered vocals, delicate pianos and cinematic tinkly bits. This isn’t shoe-gazing, it’s star-gazing… – Classic Pop Magazine

her voice and dreamy sleep-inducing (hey the clues in the song titles don’t forget) musings prove illuminating. – God Is In The TV

she just writes such perfect, bliss-filled electronica that all geography dissolves beside her…a delight of luxurious textures and upbeat grooves. – The Blue Walrus

Cuushe’s tranquil vocals are showcased against halcyon hues of electronics so comforting that I want to wrap myself – Mostly Junk Food

one of Japan’s best dream-pop makers – MakeBelieveMelodies

Cuushe’s music takes on unique shapes and structures with each subsequent release but the thread that ties it all together is a certain mystical quality to her voice. It’s a wondrous sound that is pure and inspiring – Trend & Chaos

Cuushe’s music sounds 90’s, it is not necessarily modern, it is timeless and seems to come from a distant memory – Direct Actu