HIMOYA
HIMOYA
SYNTH JAZZ
The first thing that stands out about Himoya's music: how unusual and unexpected it can sound when inspired jazz combines with synth pop. Himoya's self-titled debut album opens up new paths in the direction of a previously unheard, symbiotic fusion between jazz and pop. Something unanticipated is constantly happening in these songs, and yet they sound instantly inviting. The second is, how surprisingly warm synthesizer soundscapes can be. The word "Himoya" translates as shelter, and it wonderfully describes a sound in which you the listener can feel safe. The band sees itself as a community in a protected room, from which four musicians embark on a musical search. "All four are equal and are not afraid of bringing along an idea that doesn't work," says singer Julia Ehninger.
The quartet’s music is underpinned by the crystal-clear voice of Ehninger who, in recent years, has developed into one of the most versatile and vocally agile jazz singers in Germany. And regarding the synth music played by the pianist Jonathan Hofmeister, "at the beginning of each these pieces there is always acoustic exploration.” Around this sound design everything else develops: enraptured haunting melodies, rhythms and structures, and ultimately the texts, stories of closeness, love and loss, which do not shun life’s great questions. The sound spectrum that unfolds here is immense, but despite all the versatility, a clear style is always recognisable: from the soft expanses in the song "Have You Ever Tried", to the filigree loops in "Thin Air", to the melancholic miniatures in “Void”.
Nicolai Amrehn and Alexander Parzhuber on bass and drums create more than just the foundation for all of this; they establish the connection between pop and jazz. You only realise at the second or third hearing the imaginativeness of the rhythm section. Himoya's pop structure lives from the countless musical details in which the hidden beauty of this music is immersed.
Jonathan Hofmeister - Piano
Nicolai Amrehn - Double Bass
Alexander Parzhuber - Drums
Julia Ehninger - Voice