The Leaf Library, Teruyuki Kurihara - Melody Tomb (2022)

Melody Tomb is the first album in a new collaboration between Tokyo artist Teruyuki Kurihara and London drone pop band The Leaf Library.

The nine tracks here have in common a metallic hum and a minimal, austere kind of beauty that recalls Teru’s work on his 2020 Frozen Dust album (Mille Plateaux). Machine tones mix with static, noise and warm drones, whilst in other places the lineage of classic mangled Warp hardware is visible.

In March 2020 The Leaf Library sent their friend Teru a batch of synth drones to play with in the hope a new collaboration would be born.

“From the first time we heard Teru’s music we knew we wanted to make something with him,” says the band. “It has been such a pleasure seeing him take our minimal synth parts and turn them into something really strange and beautiful.”

The track Kite Beach was the first to arrive, featuring on The Leaf Library-curated Object Ten compilation on Objects Forever in 2021, with the rest of the album slowly appearing over the last year.

The artists hope to continue the collaboration with another album in the near future.