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Japanese singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist Ichiko Aoba has been creating picturesque dioramas with just her voice and guitar since her debut at just 19 years old. Well known in Japan, having collaborated with artists such as Haruomi Hosono, Cornelius and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, today she announces her new album, Luminescent Creatures, out February 28, 2025 via hermine, and shares its lead single, “Luciférine”. Concurrently, Ichiko announces a world tour in 2025, her biggest tour yet, which will see her play in the magical setting of the San Fedele Auditorium in Milan.
Ichiko has the power to bend the space around her, tearing listeners away from reality and surrounding them with the comforting fabric of her imagination. In recent years he has exploited the full range of his abilities, marrying the classical guitar of his early works with rapid orchestral movements. Her previous album, 2020’s Windswept Adan, was the soundtrack to a fictional film about a girl who travels from her home to the fantastical island of Adan. Praised, among many, by magazines such as Pitchfork, The Guardian, The Needle Drop, the album became a success and took first place as Album Of The Year among the albums most voted by users in 2020.
For his eagerly awaited follow-up, Luminescent Creatures, the artist opens an even wider portal in his mind, exploring the origin of life with dreamlike musical vistas. “Luminescent Creatures was born from Windswept Adan,” explains Ichiko. “It started when I began to wonder what happened after the protagonist of Windswept Adan disappeared along with the music of the island’s inhabitants. What would be left?”
The sea is immense and ancient, a mirror of the harsh conditions from which life is born, but it is also memory, which holds a profound documentation of fossils that once swam in its waters and memories of how we have treated our planet. Visiting the Japanese Ryukyu archipelago and conducting field research, Ichiko was fascinated by the boundless beauty of the ocean and its seabed. By visiting the islands and talking to local communities for months and years, it became a kind of environmental investigation. He began to notice how the shape of coral reefs has changed over time, how it can be affected by weather conditions, and how even remote places can be affected by climate change. He immersed himself with a single breath in his lungs, submitting to the whims of the tides. “I feel unable to resist the pull of the ocean,” Ichiko says, “but I know how easy it would be for my little body to be swallowed up by the sea.” This contradiction, sweetness and power, instills a sense of awe that is expressed in the soundscapes of Luminescent Creatures.
With “Luciférine,” Ichiko introduces the central theory of Luminescent Creatures: bioluminescence, the light emitted by organisms such as deep-sea fish as their primary form of communication. Intense strings and shimmering piano ripple like sunbeams across the lapping waves, cutting through the dark expanse of the sea depths. “Inside each of us”, sings the author, ‘there is a place where our stars sleep’. It conjures up images of creatures that emanate light like celestial bodies, illuminating a path to bridge the distance between galaxies.
The 2025 Luminescent Creatures World Tour will take Ichiko to many parts of Europe, North America and Asia, with additional dates to be announced soon.
Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
Ichiko Aoba 2025 Tour:
My. Feb. 24 – Hong Kong, CN @ Xi Qu Centre, Grand Theater [with Musicians from HK Phil]
Wed. Feb. 26 – Seoul, KR @ Sky Arts Hall
Wed. March 5 – Taipei, TW @ Zhongshan Hall
My. March 10 – Barcelona, ES @ Parallel 62
Tue. March 11 – Valencia, ES @ Teatro Rambleta
Thu. March 13 – Milan, IT @ Auditorium San Fedele
Sat. March 15 – Zurich, CH @ Mascotte
Kill. March 18 – Hamburg, DE @ Laiszhalle
Wed. March 19 – Berlin, DE @ Urania (Humboldtsaal)
Fri. March 21 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg (Great Hall)
Sun. March 23 – Groningen, NL @ Oosterpoort
Wed. March 25 – Antwerp, BE @ De Roma
Fries. March 27 – Paris, FR @ La Trianon
Mon. March 31 – London, UK @ Barbican [with 12 Ensemble]
Wed. April 2 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Fri. April 4 – Gateshead, UK @ Sage 2
Sat. April 5 – Glasgow, UK @ City Halls
Thu. April 17 – Honolulu, HI @ Hawaii Theatre
Sat. April 19 – Vancouver, BC @ Chan Centre
Sun. April 20 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
Mon. April 21 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore
Wed. April 23 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Oakland
Sat. April 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern [with Wordless Music Quintet]
Sun. April 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern [with Wordless Music Quintet]
Tue. April 29 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Scottsdale Center
Thu. May 1 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
Fri. May 2 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theatre
Yours. May 6 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Wed. May 7 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Thu. May 8 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Cathedral Theatre
Sat. May 10 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
Mon. May 12 – Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center
Wed. May 14 – New York, NY @ Kings Theatre [with Wordless Music Quintet]
Sat. May 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Miller Theatre
Sun. May 18 – Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
Thu. May 22 – Mexico City, MX @ Metropolitan Theatre
Pre-order Luminescent Creatures
Luminescent Creatures Tracklist
1. COLORING
2. 24° 03′ 27.0″ N 123° 47′ 07.5″ E
3. breasts
4. tower
5. aurora
6. FLAG
7. Cochlea
8. Luciferin
9. sleeplessness
10. SONAR
11. 惒星㠮泪 (Wakusei no Namida)
ABOUT
While previous project Windswept Adan connected her with a more international audience, the real driving force behind her rapid rise is her natural and captivating presence.
Ichiko’s solo performances are simple but absolutely charming. Wherever she performs, whether it’s an intimate venue, a festival like Big Ears, or the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the entire room watches her in stunned silence, hanging on her every breath. She sings in Japanese, but her delicate voice operates on an emotional frequency that pierces linguistic and cultural barriers.
Earning the adoration of fellow musicians abroad, Ichiko has collaborated and performed alongside artists such as Japanese Breakfast, Mac DeMarco, Owen Pallett, Pomme, Weyes Blood and Black Country New Road. However, as her star continues to rise, Ichiko strives to be her truest self ever. Her compositions have become more powerful, her songwriting more refined, and her ability to make listeners feel like they’re in a private cosmos with her remains as strong as ever.
Georgia Passuello
