Review: Nana Yamato, Before Sunrise

It’s not difficult to grasp why Dull Tools — the record label co-operated by Parquet Courts’s Andrew Savage — hitched its wagon to Nana Yamato to release her debut album. Before Sunrise is an impressive outing for a first-timer, a misty yet breezy indie-rock record that’s much bigger in sound than its homemade origins would suggest (Yamato recorded the album in her Tokyo bedroom). Instead of falling into the pitfalls of bedroom pop, Before Sunrise relishes in its cracks and splinters. Buoyed by the work of mixer and producer Jonathan Schenke, whose sound reel includes Snail Mail and the Drums, Before Sunrise peppers noisy and electronic textures over ‘70s art-pop, shoegaze, and chillwave to soundtrack all of the moods of a four-cornered night.

On the album’s uniquely catchy opener, “Do You Wanna,” Yamato sings in Japanese and English over a backbone of MIDI bass, shiny DAW synthesizers, and buzzed guitars. The song feels moody and triumphant at the same time, mimicking that I’ve-had-enough feeling where you immediately drop everything to start following your dreams instead of everyone else’s. Yamato’s voice is fragile and sometimes atonal in a Niko or Kim-Gordon-kind-of way, qualities that compliment her fuzzy, homespun tunes

Yamato expresses a range of emotions across these 12 tracks while managing to sound like herself in the end. “Gaito” has the 20-year-old songwriter feeling chill and spacey over programmed drums, gentle bass, and dreamy keys. “The Day Song” is a moment of pure sunshine, albeit a noisy one, while “Fantasy” captures the fun of playing loud pop-rock in the garage (even if the song was recorded in a bedroom). “Leaving” would be a melancholy moment were it not uplifted by a wash of raspy guitars and euphoric vocal harmonies. The hazy mood of Before Sunrise is difficult to pin down, much like those complicated feelings that arise between the hours of 2 and 6 a.m. Call it quiet angst or suppressed bliss; whatever you call it, Yamato’s vibe is easy to get lost in.

There are a couple of sounds on Before Sunrise that probably shouldn’t have made it to the final cut. But even when a generic synthesizer lead takes center stage or a punchy software snare ruins the mood, these moments don’t cheapen Before Sunrise. Instead, like when we first heard the raw talent of Tyler, the Creator, these occasions serve as playful indicators of Yamato’s yet-to-be-fleshed-out vision, one that’s sure to be nailed down on future releases. Given how good Before Sunrise can be, indie fans will certainly be there to hear the next phase of Yamato’s masterplan come to fruition.

Listen to Before Sunrise below on Bandcamp: