Japanese dream-pop artist Cuushe immediately got my nostalgic gears working with “Twilight”, a track whose flickering synth lead resembles the beginning notes of Electric Light Orchestra’s “Telephone Line”. Cuushe uses her angelic female vocals as a driving force, producing lush and relatively indecipherable cooing and echoing over a gently hypnotic array of swirling synths and glitchy percussion. “Twilight” concocts a wintry feel with its chirpy keys, almost resembling the work of Japanese native Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence OST at points. Her vocal approach compares to the high-pitched spontaneity of Grimes, especially on “I Dreamt About Silence”. Most of Cuushe’s tracks are enjoyably developmental, repetitive at its core but very lively in its gradual expansion of synth sounds. By the end of each track, several beautiful layers of composition emerge. The airy “I Love You”, and how it expands from lo-fi whispers to a neon whirlwind of synths, is indicative of this approach as well. Cuushe, who recently toured with Grouper, continues to make big waves in the dream-pop scene. She releases her second full-length album, Butterfly Case, four years after debuting with Red Rocket Telepathy.
