The Friday Dispatch
Ichiko Aoba, Track Star*'s Jack Coyne, Hongza and more
The life acquatic of Ichiko Aoba
From the ocean to the stars and giving voice to the unseen, Ichiko Aoba is finding music in everything.
The Japanese ambient folk singer/songwriter’s work is deeply informed by research and gathering impressions from her travels. For her new record Luminescent Creatures – released this week – she lived among the islanders in the Ryūkyū archipelago to see for herself the ecosystems that govern many of their lives. She was often thinking about coral on these visits, believing strongly that the fate of humans and coral are, in many ways, intertwined. Over and again she went back to the same communities, listening intently to the villagers’ stories of the reefs and how they were changing. “They’d say things like, ‘Oh, this patch of coral recently died,’ or ‘A typhoon just came by and so the coral is doing really well,’” she explains. “And sometimes I would go out to the reefs myself to look at the situation.”
Aoba says that for as long as she can remember the ocean has always been a place where she feels inspired and at home, knowing that we will all, someday, return to it. But during the creation of her last record Windswept Adan, she began to observe it in greater detail, pushing herself to dive beyond the shallow reefs she was used to and into its darker, colder depths. During these dives, Aoba would sometimes find herself swimming alongside the whales that migrate through the archipelago, wonderstruck by both their size and song. “One of the first things I noticed when I first swam with whales is that even if you can’t physically see them, you can hear them singing and it would almost seem as if the sound was coming from inside your own body,” she recalls. “Swimming with whales helped me to realise that, in a lot of ways, the sea is the same as our bodies, and that there is a sea that lives in each of us.”
This week, Panda Bear returns — thank God — with Sinister Grift; Hope Tala finally unveils her debut, Hope Handwritten; Annie-Dog gives us the addictive 15 EP; Miya Folick runs free on Erotica Veronica; Deep Sea Diver brings Billboard Heart; and Mae Martin makes the jump from comedy to music with their debut LP, I’m A TV.
Best Fit’s SXSW lineup is here
Best Fit is returning to Austin for SXSW next month, with an official party on Friday 14 March showcasing some of the most innovative music makers around.
Taking place across two stages at the Swan Dive – our home at SXSW since 2018 – the 12- strong line-up cuts across the genres to offer a glimpse into some of the artists who are forging new directions in songwriting and sonics, with the likes of jasmine.4.t, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Black Fondu, simmcat, shower curtain and Case Oats - the new project from Spencer Tweedy and Casey Walker. Come say hi if you’re in town!
Best Fit’s official SXSW party runs from 8pm to 2am on Friday, 14 March, at the Swan Dive Patio, 615 Red River Street, Austin, TX 78701
Desk Notes: Jack Coyne
Jack Coyne is the mastermind behind Track Star*, the social media show of choice for the true music nerds among us. Jack is also one of the founders of Public Opinion, a New York-based media company he started with his brother, Kieran, and childhood friend, Henry.
“My desk is back to back with my colleague Henry's desk, which is a complete shitshow. Everyone out there should know I'm not a slob, but I share a space with a slob. You can quote me on that. Love you Henry.
1) 3x Beats headphones. I use headphones at the desk all day because it's an open office plan but I also use them in my show Track Star!
2) Meta Ray Bans and regular Ray Bans. Mark Zuckerberg gave me the regular ones. The camera on them is actually super handy for POV stuff. I've been using it a lot!
3) My notebook. I write down what I need to do every single day and have for the last 15 years. I have so many stacks of notebooks like this.
4) Hidden Landmarks of New York and New York Nico's Guide to NYC. My friends wrote these books and they're both f***ing incredible.
5) Hyperice massage gun. If you know you know.
6) Stack of NY Magazine.
7) Laptop + Monitor with apple music and Spotify both open. I kind of both for different reasons and use both everyday.”
Over 1,000 UK musicians have come together to put out Is This What We Want?, a silent album project that questions and protests the government’s changes to copyright law that would allow AI firms train algorithms on the work of creative professionals. Artists in support of the project include Kate Bush, Tori Amos, The Clash, Damon Albarn, and more.
The introduction…
Meet Hongza, a 28-year-old artist from London who will be gracing Best Fit’s stage at The New Colossus Festival in New York next Thursday. You can check him out alongside the rest of the lineup at Parkside Lounge beginning at 10:00pm.
Describe your sound… Euphoric coming of age soundtrack with a hint of bleakness
How you started playing music… I’ve always loved music. I remember running around my parents’ flat with a fake guitar to Busted on the telly. I begged my dad to get me a knock off Strat from Costco when I was 8 and haven’t stopped playing since then.
Best gig you’ve played and why… This is a hard one to pick! Right now it has to be supporting Somebody’s Child in Eindhoven. It was my first time playing in the Netherlands. There was something so exciting about getting on the plane from Stansted at 6 in the morning to fly to a new city and play to a sold out crowd. To be honest, it was surreal. I’ve never played to 400 people before.
What you miss most about home when you’re on the road… I miss my family the most. My partner Amy and our son (dog) Chewy are my world, and being away from them can be hard. I also miss eating Vietnamese food everyday, but I guess a Greggs sausage roll can fill the hole in the meantime.
Something Old, Something New
Every week, we share recommendations from the Best Fit community — one from the past, another from the present. This week, writer Will Yarbrough on The Pointer Sisters’ Break Out (1983) and Cloakroom’s Last Leg of the Human Table (2025).
Pop stars race to cash in on the latest trend, though sometimes, it pays to arrive fashionably late. While they're the first Black girl group to ever perform at the Grand Ole Opry, The Pointer Sisters burst like a cloud onto the Billboard charts as a floral-dressed, beboppin', wang dang doodling nostalgia act. But after sales cooled and one sister hitched off to Motown, the remaining trio decided to get with the times.
Ruth, Anita and June Pointer might've chafed at the title, but Break Out fit right where the zeitgeist was headed in 1983. The gospel harmonies of lead single "I Need You" answered their producer's prayers by reestablishing them at R&B radio. Though that seemed like a minor miracle compared to the next four singles, which all reached the Top 10 of the Hot 100. By this point, disco had been demolished, but with their freshly poofed perms, The Pointer Sisters identified with everybody who was still working for the weekend. Sprung by a Minimoog that's as sparkling and stretchy as a spanking new pair of spandex, June's opening sexual eruption "Jump (For My Love)" rivaled Van Halen's commercial climax.
"All you've got to do is beam it into me", Anita called out on "Telegraph Your Love", her cries of passion banging off electronic drums that pulsed like a force field.
Of course, repackaging the album with one of the decade's definitive (and horniest?) hits didn't rub the shine off its triple platinum certificate. Even a robot can't hide the urge to dance around like a maniac whenever "I'm So Excited" moves real slow before breaking into a cold, hard, synthetic sweat. Still, The Pointer Sisters had some shiny new hooks stuffed up the sleeve of their oversized sweatshirts. Though scratching a familiar itch with its palm-muted funk guitar, "Automatic" wooed Grammy voters under the silky spell cast by Ruth's commanding contralto.
Appearing on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack showed savvy, but The Pointer Sisters were hip to more than just the power of MTV. After all, along with "Thriller", Break Out arrived the same year the Cold War almost boiled over. "Industry don't pay a price that's fair / All the common people breathing filthy air", all three stressed on the futuristic boogaloo "Neutron Dance" before dusting off their shoulder pads with a synchronized shimmy.
The Pointer Sisters were playing catch-up, but on Break Out, they were never more on point.
Like other explorers throughout recorded history, Cloakroom were so early to heavy shoegaze that even they didn't know what to call it.
When the well-travelled trio started out back in 2012, they had just reached the unmarked intersection where indie rock meets metal. Claiming this weedy turf as "stoner emo" made perfect sense for a band from a place that's as off the beaten path as Michigan City, Indiana, though not fitting into one predetermined box might've led them to bounce between independent labels. The scene at-large is catching on now. But while their worldview has only darkened, Cloakroom are still expanding their horizons on Last Leg of the Human Table.
Humanity might be on its last leg, but Cloakroom haven't stopped hitting the gas. "I can see the forest from the trees", our pilot Doyle Marin reports as their new album lifts skyward, speakers buzzing off a ginormous bong rip of a riff. Marin also plays guitar for heavy shoegaze pioneers Nothing, but this newfound birds-eye view encourages him to look up from his pedalboard. Despite not one but two beautifully shambling instrumental interludes, Last Leg of the Human Table easily stands as the tightest collection of songs in the band's decade-long wardrobe. Even a monster jam like "The Lights Are On" is laser-focused, stomping through the existential desert like a wise old elephant.
To be fair, Cloakroom were already headed in a more streamlined direction, but whereas their last album dealt purely in hypotheticals, Last Leg of the Human Table accepts society's collapse as a foregone conclusion. "No one here's at fault / The sky is gonna fall if it's gonna fall". Rippling with all the warm comfort of a summer breeze, "Unbelonging" could've topped the Modern Rock chart during college radio's early '90s peak, but don't let its carefree jangle pop fool you. I was legit shocked to hear Cloakroom go full hog on the alt-country yarn "Bad Larry", whose moral compass is missing a few screws.
"Leave the weeping to the willow / There's a little blood on my pillow", Marin sighs with indifference. "Well, that's how I mark my territory / You know the ending to this story".
We are all guilty of living in individual thought bubbles. I am writing this surrounded by the peace and quiet that one can only find at the ass crack of dawn, while you, dear reader, are staring into a screen. Unplugging from the outside world sounds awesome. But while Cloakroom are right not to clean the fuzz out of their ears on the squealing "Cloverlooper", shouting at each other from our separate echo chambers has put us all in grave danger. "There'll be no love left to blind me", Marin repeats during the album's doomy closer as if he's the one losing faith in his own convictions. Even when the amps are turned down, The Last Leg of the Human Table rings loud and clear.
Listen to the week in new music by following our Discovery playlist
Dropping at midnight every Thursday, follow our playlist for a taste of the best new music from the most exciting breaking artists. Leading the selection this week are new tracks from Sunken, Ava McCoy, No Windows, Collin Miller, Hank, and coverstar Sex Mask.
“I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats.”
Aahhh Chicago’s Case Oats mentioned! So cool!