Electronic producer and visual artist Asta Hiroki has steadily built a name for himself in recent times via a clutch of high-quality singles, remixes and an EP. After an extended period spent hibernating in the studio while the world as we know it changed significantly, electronic he emerges in 2021 with his eagerly anticipated debut album 'Entropy'.
Spanning leftfield electronica, downtempo, contemporary jazz, and hip hop, and recorded across studios in UK, Colombia, USA, and Cyprus, it's a glorious collection that sees the producer teaming up with some sizeable talents.
Across ten tracks he combines with a truly wonderful cast that features: Lalin (The Seshen, Tru Thoughts), Muhsinah (Robert Glasper, Flying Lotus, Common) Dontmesswithjuan, Tristan de Liège (Loci Records, Future Archive) and more.
This expansive record is beautifully arranged, with a fine balance between live strings and drums, muscular bass sounds, colourful Fender Rhodes chords, delicate organic textures and intricate sound design. There are knowing nods throughout to the LA beat scene, the Bristol sound, and London's nu jazz upstarts, yet it maintains it's own unique style and aesthetic away from them.
Highlights include the lumbering-yet-nuanced Flying Lotus-esque opener 'Dahlias', the dynamic and virtuousic live drum playing of percussionist Robbie Hookins on contemporary jazztronica cut 'Cherry Blossom', Dontmesswithjuan's dreamy, drifting vocals on 'Slumber', and Lalin's heart wrenching, shivers-up-the-spine vocal performance on 'Left Behind'.
Crafted as a highly conceptual project - many tracks incorporate the albums theme in the music literally, illustrated by real humanistic playing and improvisation being preferred over quantised, or copy and pasted audio clips that give a ‘perfect’ performance.