Yama Warashi - At My Mother’s Piano

Japanese visual artist & musician Yoshino Shigihara returns with the vibrant, beautiful music of her main project Yama Warashi (translates as ‘small childlike mountain spirit’) on new EP ‘At My Mother's Piano’.

Founded in Bristol circa 2015 and centred on a close-knit coterie of gifted collaborators led by Shigihara, the output of Yama Warashi has since flourished across one EP and three albums, from the graceful spiritual jazz of 2016’s ‘MOON ZERO’ to the evocative, psychedelic dreamworlds of her debut album ‘Moon Egg’ - released in the same year - to the existential, Bon Odori-inspired music of 2018’s ‘Boiled Moon’.

Relocating to London, after being drawn to the city by its open-minded music scene - especially the activity centred around Cafe OTO and the Total Refreshment Centre - Shigihara released ‘Crispy Moon’ in 2022, unfurling even grander, more lavish depths within her multifaceted soundworld. 

Enriched by the kaleidoscopic influence of Japanese folk dance, free jazz, African music and psychedelia, Shigihara illustrates the ever-evolving qualities of Yama Warashi on ‘At My Mother’s Piano’, crafting exquisite, improvisational solo piano works interlaced with vivid field recordings, inspired by a trip back to her family home in Ashiya City, Hyōgo, Japan earlier this year.

During a two-month period between January & February 2024, Shigihara would habitually play the eponymous piano that still resides at her family home. Capturing these unadorned, peaceful moments, she then incorporated field recordings documented during her time there. Resembling a beguiling, poetic reflection of everyday realities, the natural world, spirituality and Japanese folklore, ‘At My Mother’s Piano’ is a simple, meditative yet eloquent distillation of restorative tranquillity and intuitive artistic expression.