Boys be kko - HENSA (2021)

After three standout EPs on Atomnation, Japanese producer and live artist Ryunosuke Hayashi a.k.a. boys be kko serves up his long-awaited debut album. Hensa is a serene nine-track electronic trip that oozes musical charm.

The lovably eccentric Hayashi has been making music since high school, on through art college, and is now a key figure in the Tokyo scene. He co-runs the Kids Return label, design studio and event brand, and is a lover of hardware who can really speak through his machines. He has proven that with three EPs on the label since 2019, and they all came with amazing cover art shot by the man himself alongside his fellow Tokyo creatives. Hayashi is always at the centre of the artwork, which is playful, artist and has a cool sense of humour.

He makes his music in a studio with its own roof terrace and counts the likes of &ME and Bonobo as fans while Running Back boss Gerd Janson has remixed him in the past. This new album finds him expand on his always emotive, clean and futuristic fusion of house, disco and melodic techno in alluring new ways.

The stunning 'Orgelis' opens with expansive synths that fill you with the same sense of hope you have at the dawn of a bright new day in spring. His exquisite knack for melody shines through on the glistening 'Chad's RA,' which is rooted in rolling rubber drums but lit up with cosmic rays and pixelated pads. 'MAGO' is a more melancholic track with jazzy cymbals and gentle piano chords draped over a slippery beat while a mournful vocal cries out from the deep.

'Wake Upipo' gets you on your toes with its clean and crisp drum programming and ever-shifting synth chords, then 'Thwimmy' casts a perfectly dreamy daytime house vibe. It conveys a cloudless blue sky with wispy melodies that really make you sway. Gorgeous interlude 'Brittle Clap' has shattered melodies, broken beats and lurching bass locking you in an angelic moment and then it's off to the stars on the punchy deep techno drums of 'BIAS JAPAN.' Above the groove, ascending synth arps take you ever closer to heaven and a state of pure nirvana. There is a kaleidoscopic feel to the video-game melodies and broken beats of 'ORE AYHUN' before closer 'Anokyoku' is a quiet and hypnotic late-night dub with heart-aching pianos floating over the warm bass.

This is a brain-cleansing, soul-enriching work of melodic electronic perfection from boys be kko.