Les Anges Les Bonheurs vinyl

Back in the late 1980s, Japanese artist Sonoko released a sole album and accompanying single on Belgium's Crammed Discs. When her career didn't take off, she relocated from Paris to home city Kyoto and promptly got on with life. She never stopped making music though, and here delivers her first EP for 30 years. It's pretty darn good, all told, with the Japanese producer/vocalist offering up a quartet of atmospheric cuts. Throughout, Sonoko's whispered and delicately sung French language vocals take centre stage, variously weaving in and out of drowsy and evocative soundscapes that touch on electro-tinged trip-hop ("Aoi Tori (Dai Go Maku)"), Nils Frahm style piano compositions ("L'Enfant Du Paradis"), chiming synthesizer ambience ("Danse Avec La Tristesse") and Serge Gainsbourg-esque easy listening ("L'Oisseau Blue").