Grammy-winning guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela has shared “Akatsuki,”which is a sweeping new single featuring Japanese jazz virtuoso Hiromi, alongside an accompanying video. The track appears on the duo’s forthcoming album, OurHome, due out on September 18, through ATO Records. Named for the secret organization of mercenary ninjas in the seminal manga series Naruto, “Akatsuki” reflects Rodrigo y Gabriela’s long-standing love of anime and the profound influence Japanese culture has had on their creative relationship with Japan.
The idea emerged while Quintero was watching the series during late nights in the studio as the duo worked on early demos in Los Angeles. Drawn to the emotional depth of the Akatsuki storyline and the character Pain, she suggested the title to Sánchez. Months later, after watching the series himself, he agreed it perfectly captured the spirit of the composition. Expansive, searching, and charged with moody grandeur, the instrumental piece draws from Naruto‘s exploration of Buddhist cosmology, rebirth, compassion, and the shifting boundaries between hero and villain.
Across the track, Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero weave shadowy guitar lines and tempestuous rhythms around Hiromi’s gorgeously mercurial piano work. The result brings together three musicians whose highly physical approaches to their instruments blur the boundaries between melody, rhythm and percussion. “It’s so amazing to watch Hiromi play,” says Sánchez. “She was a child prodigy, but she has this incredible energy and adds a lot of percussive sounds – almost like us, but on piano instead of guitar.”
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