Hiro Ama - Animal Emotions EP

“As a human being it’s really important to feel and express emotions whether happy or sad,” says Hiro Amamiya, the Teleman drummer whose solo guise is Hiro Ama. “I sometimes struggle to and so these are a collection of songs that explore different emotions. I want people to feel something through my music so I called this EP Animal Emotions.”

Amamiya follows up on swiftly on 2020’s field recording-heavy EP Uncertainty with a record made in his bedroom and during a time of introspection to create something even more personal. “On Uncertainty I was using sounds from everywhere and whatever sounded good,” he says. “But for Animal Emotions I stuck with fewer instruments so the EP feels much more united. I also used more acoustic instruments as I sometimes feel electronic music in general lacks some organic and human elements so I tried to make this EP as organic as possible”

However, buried beneath the warm electronics, gently pulsing grooves, infectious melodies and immersive soundscapes - that veer from disco strut to IDM via jazz-laced ambient - you’ll still find some field recordings. “You might not hear them as obviously as on my previous EP but field recordings are there,” he says. “I like them because it's very spontaneous and gives some human feel. It also adds some air to a recording which I quite like.”

On the opener ‘Free Soul’ - which marries funk bass with subtle electronics and squelchy grooves - you can hear a voice sample of a woman from Southeast Asia singing a lullaby.

“I wanted to make an up-tempo and danceable song so I can dance in my room during the lockdown. I got lost in Jazz music the last couple of years and it really changed and opened up the way I make music.”

The moods, tones and emotions on the EP shift as seamlessly as the genres, never quite settling into one single place and constantly exploring and expanding into new musical terrain. A process mirrored by Amamiya’s own varied influences and tastes that were funnelled into the record, from film soundtracks to IDM to spiritual jazz such as November Cotton Flower by Marion Brown and Harvest by Pharoah Sanders.