When her latest album Windswept Adan-now her first to be reissued internationally-received widespread coverage from Western critics last year, the established faithful weren’t surprised this is the recognition they always knew she deserved. The two years between qp and her next release gave people time to get up to speed on her back catalog, retroactively catapulting 2013’s 0 to the top spot for its own year.
Aoba has been building a following in Japan since her 2010 debut Kamisori Otome-released when she was only 19 years old-but 2018’s qp was Aoba’s first small breakthrough it connected her with listeners abroad and cracked Rate Your Music’s top rated albums of the year. The Japanese singer-songwriter’s breathy vocals and placid guitar playing, often the only sounds you’d hear on her records, create a hypnotizing shroud that makes you feel like she’s performing for you alone. Ichiko Aoba’s greatest strength is her ability to create pockets of intimacy.