On Sawako's third full-length album, Madoromi, (a Japanese word which loosely translates to the state of being between sleep and waking) she presents a narrative universe of spacey, dreamy in-between-ness which works through the woozy shift of the album's arc - allowing one to emerge at the other end in a physical world decidedly of the present tense. Filled with contrast and dynamics, Madoromi firmly places Sawako at the forefront of the softly colliding aspects of the digital and organic - showing that she manages to hang in the fold between these worlds, and access each with aplomb. Subtle electronics frame abstracted instrumental source material (vibraphone, guitar, cello, music box) and a variety of real-world sound (random objects, distant, disembodied voices and the occasional presence of Sawako's faintly whispered vocals). With tracks like "Uta Tane" and "Far Away," she highlights the acoustic elements, where editing, bending and stretching - rather than obscure the natural beauty of the sound for the sake of finding something new - help to further bring out the qualities that were quietly hiding beneath the surface. On songs like "Kira Kira" and the album closer, "Tiny Tiny," Sawako uses chimes and tones that twinkle and pop, reminding one of hazy memories recalled through developed and reconfigured memory banks.
