Band: PoiL Ueda | Album: Yoshitsune | Genre: Progressive rock, RIO, Japanese folk | Year: 2023
From: Lyon, France & Tokyo Japan | Label: Dur et Doux
For fans of: Osamu Kitajima, Frank Zappa, Mike Oldfield
PoiL is back for a second round of collaboration with Japanese musician Junko Ueda. I thought their last album–PoiL Ueda, from March of this year–would simply be a quirky, one-off thing. I was certainly hoping for more, as my one real gripe about PoiL Ueda was that, at only 31 minutes, it felt kind of short. I really liked the madcap fusion of PoiL’s avant-garde RIO stylings with Ueda’s singular vocal style and sharply-plucked biwa.
Yoshitsune picks up where PoiL Ueda ended, both lyrically and musically. Taking place after the naval battle described on their last album in “Dan-no-Ura”, this album tells the story of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a military commander forced into exile.
The album opens with the three-part 13-minute “Kumo”. It’s got an eerie, unsettling feel, with biwa, distant vocals, and slow-swelling drums. The pace picks up, and soon it’s a bizarre, jittery bit with rubbery bass and plinking guitar and biwa as the main elements. Ueda’s voice is as striking as ever, and the musicianship is all top-notch. Things do feel less lush than on PoiL Ueda; keyboards are less prominent here. This decision works well though, as it allows the other elements room to breathe.
Around the midpoint of this suite, things slow down a bit. Oddball guitar chords, twangy biwa, and an unusual meter converge to create a distinctive, disorienting atmosphere. Ominous synth pads emerge as the guitar gains some grit, and the tension of Yoshitsune’s flight from Tokyo is palpable. PoiL’s backing vocals, serving as the voices of the ghosts pursuing Yoshitsune, add to the anxiety of it all.
“Omine-san” comes next, and it’s a stark shift. “Kumo”’s conclusion is sudden and jarring, and this cut opens on a slow-moving, woozy guitar line. This song develops something of a ritualistic feel, aided by a steady drumbeat and distant chimes.
“Yoshino” opens with some biwa noodling and a distant, sinister synth growl. Momentum builds, and several competing high-energy instrumental lines converge into something twisting, unorthodox, and shockingly groovy. The energy ebbs and flows, and there’s a sense of trepidation to much of this song. Synths finally gain some prominence here, and I love the textural variation they provide.
Next comes “Ataka”, a solo performance by Ueda. The spare arrangement is attention-grabbing, and it’s a great showcase of her biwa playing style. Despite being nearly five minutes long, this piece feels much shorter.
Yoshitsune ends on the two-part “Koko”. A bubbling synth tone underpins Ueda’s voice in the opening movement. The first half of this piece is dedicated primarily to a build-up of momentum. There’s a sense of barely-restrained kinetic energy, and when it finally bursts free, it reminds me a lot of certain Between the Buried and Me songs, just non-metallic. The playing is technical, speedy, and absolutely dizzying. Everything converges into a beautiful maelstrom of rock instrumentation and Ueda’s biwa and voice.
Yoshitsune is a fantastic record. In the months since PoiL Ueda has come out, I’ve found myself wanting more, and this delivers exactly what I was craving. It’s cohesive, it’s weird, and it’s exciting.
Score: 94/100
The Elite Extremophile 