Royoko Akama — Songs For A Shed

Songs For A Shed collects together six 2020 compositions from Royoko Akama, a British-based, Japanese female composer- who creates stark, angular, at points felt modern composition. This collection focuses on work for piano and other instruments, with the pieces moving between bounding and waving angularity, uneasy-yet-compelling discord, and simply felt emotion.

The release appears as a CD on Sheffield’s Another Timbre- who of course is one of the key labels releasing the best and most creative in modern composition/ modern classical music. With the disc coming presented in the labels house style mini gatefold- and as you’d expect for a release with this title, we get a picture of a shed- and it’s kind of slightly creepy, with the white door half in shadow, and its small white framed window seemingly veiled from inside.

I first became aware of Ms Akama’s work in 2017, with the release of the varied and wonderfully unpredictable double CD  release Places And Pages( also on Another Timbre), going on to enjoy it and her proceeding releases- very much. I enjoyed her inventive and at times daring take of sparse and stark modern composition, and I’m happy to report this new release keeps up to the quality and scope of her past work.

The players featured over the six compositions are all from the highly respected modern ensemble Apartment House- who really are the go-to collective for anyone who wants their modern composition/ modern classical music played with care and emotion. The tracks run between six and eighteen minutes, and we get a fairly varied and largely rewarding collection of work.

The disc opens with the near nine minutes twenty of “Ichi Go Ichi e”- here we find a blend of piano (Siwan Rhys) and vibraphone (Simon Limbrick). The two instruments are set out in bounding, at points blurring and waving form- at moments, the vibes sourly pierce, at others they grimly drift, with the keys treading out highs and bounding lows, to create an unease-if-wonkily compelling counterbalance. As we move on, we have the simple yet waveringly felt and sadly climbing melody of “10 Days’ Etude” which finds just Siwan plotting out the structure of the track.

Moving into the last half of the release, and we have two around eighteen-minute tracks. We have the tolling-to-rounding glumness meets hoveringly sear ‘n’ sour of “Proposal Eleven”- which features Rhys on piano, Angharad Davis- Violin, Simon Limbrick- vibraphone and marimba, Anton Lukoszevieze- cello, Gavin Morrison- alto flute, and Heather Roche- bass clarinet.  And the slow wondering forlornness of “A Shed Song” which features Rhys on his own play out a  series of patterns, that hint at sly melody and emotional reminiscing- but are often fed with breaks, shifts in focus, and a general feeling of sad abstraction- like maybe looking through a box of personal photos from the past, filled with both vague found-ness and sad memories.

Songs For A Shed is a largely rewarding selection of new work from Akama- and I’d say if you enjoy your modern composition fragile, sad, though often unpredictable you’ll also find both worth and lulling felt wonder here too.