Mei Semones, Julia Shortreed and more to feature on debut Yuma Koda album, Amid Kinos

Amid Kinos is based on what Koda describes as "imagined nostalgia" to explore his conflicted relationship with places, memories and experiences. "The nostalgia within me and the confusion surrounding it," he says. "My deep longing for images and language. While being influenced by the friends I've encountered over the past few years, I made this album by carefully considering how to reconcile these elements through my current methods."

"kopfkino" arrives as the first glimpse into his vision, and takes its title from the German word combining Kopf (head) and Kino (cinema), to describe the process of when your imagination plays out scenarios like a film in your head. The track features guitarist and producer Takuro Okada, saxophonist Kei Matsumaru, bassist Marty Holoubek and drummer Shun Ishiwaka, all of whom appear throughout the album.

On Amid Kinos, Koda is also joined by Brooklyn-based guitarist Mei Semones, composer-vocalist LUCA (who has also contributed to Ryuichi Sakamoto's async), Julia Shortreed of Black Boboi, drummer Shinya Fukumori, and Yuma Abe of never young beach. The album treats each musician's contribution as an equal voice, strung together with field recordings captured in Portugal, Tokyo, Denmark and New York.

Amid Kinos artwork

Amid Kinos tracklist

"umbra"
"kopfkino"
"marthe" (feat. Shuhei Kato, LUCA)
"senari"
"artemisia" (feat. Julia Shortreed)
"nanpō no hito"
"liquorice" (feat. Takuro Okada)
"images on loan" (feat. Jan Urila Sas, Shun Ishiwaka)
"borrowed light semblance"
"repose"
"amid kino[s]" (feat. Kei Matsumaru, Shinya Fukumori)
"ende" (feat. Mei Semones, Yuma Abe)