yuu udagawa: into the rapture
Francisco Espregueira
Japanese producer Yuu Udagawa, known for her exquisitely groovy releases on labels like Compost Records and Cyphon, returns with Into The Rapture, a six-track EP of ethereal boogie and sci-fi-inspired sensuality, released on Cosmocities Records. Udagawa, whose background in art and philosophy informs her atmospheric creations, blends uplifting and soothing elements and Into The Rapture showcases her signature sound while exploring new sonic territories - featuring remixes from Francesco Tristano, as well as British jazz-house legend, Atjazz.
The EP opens with the aptly titled "Into Rapture," a track that masterfully balances pixelated funkiness and sample-heavy collagism. Layered with hedonistically laid-back vocals, raucous bass stabs, and iridescent synth slivers, it creates a smooth, roller coaster-like experience, moving between vaporous heights and fleshly voluptuousness. "We Become," our faorite from the bunch, is a more Detroit-influenced house affair, delivering a jagged, high-intensity pumper primed for extended dancefloor use. Francesco Tristano's remix transforms the track into an elegantly minimal piece of reshuffled piano house, hypnotically delayed and processed. On the flip side, "Flows Forever" revisits Udagawa’s trademark mix of zero-G disco and otherworldly escapism, ushering listeners down a path of heavy-lidded, oneiric boogie. "Radiance," a cinematic cut blurring the lines between poetic immersion and sonic tableaux, is both brittle and eerie. Atjazz reconfigures the track for the club, harnessing its soulful stasis and setting it in motion through a finely orchestrated polyphony of reverb-drenched vocals, rolling arpeggios, layered interplays, skidding drumwork, and haunting echoes. Into The Rapture is available on vinyl. Don’t sleep on Yuu’s work