Yuta Nagashima "Blue Hydrangea" (kassette)

DRL377-5 / 2023 

Blue Hydrangea is the second record from Japanese ambient recording artist Yuta Nagashima for Darla Records following White Sleep (2015).

Yuta Nagashima was born and raised in and currently works in Tokyo, Japan. In his sound production, he pursues an organic sound with a Japanese serenity, recognizing that ambient music is a rare musical genre suited to a flattening world situation.

Blue Hydrangea is inspired by a memory from the artist's childhood. "When I was in the second grade of elementary school, I felt as if the world had suddenly lost its color and turned grey. It was not a vision problem, but more like an impression in my mind. The blue hydrangeas my mother gave me to take to school were the last vivid color I perceived as a child. In the decades since then, I've lived in a grey world. I now feel that I am taking color back from the world and have created music based on these memories and recovering my sense of color."

In his contemporary art productions, Yuta uses a variety of media, including sound, to create conceptual works. His most recent solo exhibition is standing on the shoulders of Giants at Kamoe Art Center Hamamatsu (2023).

The cover image painting is by Yuta's Grandfather, Kikujiro Nagashima.