L’Avenue - Tokyo Nights

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

L’Avenue’s Tokyo Nights is a sonically stunning, beautifully produced series of gorgeous soundscapes that transport me on a journey to a neon-lit, futuristic Japan. The way in which L’Avenue combines his calming, richly layered sonic palette with soundscapes that unfold with depth and tranquility—and melodies that are heart-touching—creates an end product that is pure ear candy. Adding to that ear candy, L’Avenue’s guests bring their own personal touches to the music. I am lifted and carried away by the music as it washes around me and flows with elegant strength.

At the heart of Tokyo Nights, there is tremendous musical depth. L’Avenue incorporates a series of traditional Japanese instrument sounds along with his usual lush synth choices to unfold an intricate tapestry that is full of reflected city light and ancient temple complexes. Like a Zen garden, each element of the album is carefully chosen and placed to create a most pleasing and thought-provoking experience. On top of these factors, L’Avenue’s melodies are emotive and affecting, engaging my feelings intensely.

Another reason for my enjoyment of Tokyo Nights is the serenity and caressing nature of the atmosphere that L’Avenue creates. Sounds move with velvety grace and auditory depth, flowing out with smooth easiness. As the tide of sound moves around me, it washes away my daily concerns and brings me into a place of peaceful contemplation. This is music that is never dull but is able to put me in a place where I can be soothed and taken away from everyday life.

I’d also like to mention Josh Paulino and Elise Devane’s vocal performances on the album. Each singer contributes their own superb vocal sounds to enrich the entire experience. The added level of expression that the vocals bring makes for music that I can sink into, fully immersed in the stunning sounds that fill the album.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Shibuya Sunrise (Intro)” starts with a steadily resounding bell and a hollow-sounding synth that moves as smooth notes float and rumbling bass underpins everything. Ethereal sounds wander as the panpipe-like synth trickles with open-voiced peace and string-like notes echo. A chiming synth glows with lush, broadly slipping light as the bass forms a dense, unctuous weight. The chiming notes ring out as metallic sounds flicker and I am put into a soothing frame of mind.

A glistening synth moves with feathery lightness while the drums and bass create a smooth heartbeat and a twinkling sound descends to begin "Tokyo Nights". The luscious drums collide and fragile chimes glimmer with distant luminosity. Now the chimes support a melody which calls out in a caressing line as Josh Paulino’s delicately surrounding vocals slip past. The melody is full of wanting and pain, with longing permeating Josh Paulino’s voice.

A hollow synth floats with spacey delicacy as the drums and bass shape the music. Josh Paulino’s vocals have a tentative, airy quality which pulls on my heart while the evenly pulsing, shining synth moves. Xylophone-like notes add a woodsy sound. A sax cuts loose with softly affecting emotion pouring from it, while Josh Paulino’s voice moves smoothly.

The drums are a heartbeat as the bass flows and a medium-high, round-sounding synth carries a misty melody. A gong-like sound rings and the synth chords intertwine. Josh Paulino captures melancholy and need with gossamer tenderness above the lucent chimes and throbbing drums before the track ends.

The storyteller starts off saying, "I wake up to the sun, recalling two were one," and adds that he can't shake the thought of losing the song's subject. "Tokyo nights, neon lights are the only thing that can save me now." He explains that in Tokyo, he broke things off with the subject "in the falling snow," and wonders where the other person went after that.

He describes how "pools of light reflect this shell" and his empty heart, as he hears "a temple bell ringing out into the night." He compares himself to "a child who's lost inside his world," trying to press rewind in hopes of seeing the subject’s face again "through the fragments of my mind."

As the song ends, the storyteller says, "In Tokyo, a cold wind blows. I have to know: where did you go?”

“Arcade Heaven” starts as quickly flourishing, computerized sounds move with lightly touching percussion and a smoothly cascading synth that radiates indigo light. The bass is thick as it moves along with softly wrapping chords that glide easily, while the flashing melody sparkles with easy-going light, transmitting sensations of joy.

Pan pipes exhale with energizing warmth and flickering notes sparkle effortlessly. The glassy panpipes slip past with serene ease as digital sounds spark and twitch. The drums are strong and even as shimmering chimes call out and a shakuhachi breathes with ancient elegance. A silken synth carries a transporting melody that floats me away on imagination’s wings.

The panpipes dance as chiming notes contribute sunny luminosity and the low end continues to throb with guiding smoothness. The pan pipes flicker again as airy sounds fill the music and the percussion cascades along with 8-bit sounds before the track concludes.

A gigantic synth shines brilliantly and fragile chimes ring above dark bass. to open “Never Die”. An echoing female voice drifts past, far away, as the lusciously deep chimes ring. A widely wandering synth tone moves beneath the dreamily drifting notes that carry a melody deep with loss and introspection. Echoing vocals move with heavy bass and the drums burst in.

A loon’s cry echoes as the softly shaping drums move along with the undulating bass. The lead synth is full and unctuous, floating out with a melody that feels disconnected and feathery. As the drums and bass throb, fragile sounds shiver and the voiceover hovers above the silky synth.

The Japanese voiceover feels distant and haunting as the quickly twirling synth adds texture. Chimes flicker and the lonely sounds trickle. The voiceover adds a hint of human connection while the glimmering notes surge. Air sweeps and the drums flourish, the broad chimes full of wonderfully touching feelings while the low end pulses.

Layer upon layer of synth intertwines to create an intriguing background as the drums hit hard now and the bass pushes. Muscle fills the music as stuttering notes move and huge drums pound. Ominous threat now permeates the music as the metallic notes glow with fierce light. As the track ends, the female voice continues to move along with bright glockenspiel notes which radiate through the music.

“Suki” starts as an evocative jazz organ rings out, setting a stage for peaceful relaxation. Lush bass flows like a slow river as the timing notes flicker with full-sounding grace. The drums and bass have a lackadaisical heartbeat while the rapidly slipping notes flash past. All of the open space and comfortable sensations within the track allow me to release tension and slip into pure calm.

The subtle synth carries a melody full of tenderness and a shakuhachi exhales while bells ring, balanced with the solid percussion. The chiming jazz organ is joined by a synthesized trumpet, cruising through the music with refined elegance as rushing, vibrating noises pass by. The percussion is a rebounding motion below the flickering, meditative notes. A xylophone adds a metallic, hypnotic pattern as the shakuhachi floats with breathiness and bells call out.

The main melody floats past like a summer breeze while the xylophone vibrates. All of the musical elements conspire to create tranquility, while the steady metallic sounds contrast with the exhalations pouring from the synth before the track comes to an end.

Ghostly notes float above the colossal bass to open “Flashback.” The bass moves in slow pulses as drums flit quickly and an illuminating synth carries out in a wandering pattern. Skipping percussion taps as the full-sounding synth roams with breathy ease. A reverberant, medium-low synth slides with meditative relaxation as tensely wound arpeggios spin. The bass adds a shadowy element while chimes twinkle in short bursts.

The drums throb as bells flash and a breeze blows through. The drums and bass add luscious strength while the metallic sounds scintillate. A sense of thoughtful gentleness permeates the track, leading me to contemplative moments. A broadly trumpeting synth sings the lightly touching melody, reaching out hopefully as it unfurls.

The low end pulsates before the bass fades and gossamer sounds float. The bass hits solidly again as the drums add shape, while effulgent sounds drift by. The drum is a heartbeat as the bass glides and arpeggios twirl and bubble before the track ends.

“Touch” begins as a tranquilly flowing synth moves with quickly bursting drums and lusciously bright notes. Elise Devane’s voice slips in with tenderness and wistful emotion, carrying a gently dreamy melody. The drums act as a shaping force as the twinkling synth shivers with exquisite expression.

The drums flourish as Elise Devane’s breathy, affecting vocals exhale with the touching melody. The drums continue to throb as a warm synth breeze slips past. The burnished shine of the rounded notes suffuses the music with softness and Elise Devane’s vocals reach out, capturing me and drawing me in with their affection and need, while the background shines with cerulean light. The chorus glides past, overlapping sounds wrapping me in a cloudy blanket.

Alex Bone lets loose with a soulful sax solo, capturing the same yearning and need as the vocals. The sax is full of reedy expression, jazzily filling the music with emotion. Now, the synth exudes loving luminosity as the sax cries out, delivering a heartfelt melody. The drums continue to push on and the song fades into silence.

As she is "lost in the echoes of what we used to be," she's haunted by shadows and whispers in all of her dreams. The narrator says that "as the night draws in and the city sleeps," she sees a shadow of the song’s subject as she walks down empty streets. She adds that "as the dusk light fades across the borderline," an empty space remains "like a photograph left behind."

Our storyteller says that she wants, needs and misses the song subject’s touch. She says that she has to have that touch but has somehow managed to lose it. She talks about "reflections in the rain," as a streetlight glows and she can hear the other person's voice, "just an echo, fading slow."

As the song concludes, the narrator says that "as these moments fade, I feel lost and out of time," and she wonders where the song's subject is "beneath this black skyline."

As the rain pours down, rumbling bass flows out to begin “Heart of Rain.” The bass has an undeniable presence as Japanese chanting rings above the rainfall. Chimes sparkle like rain in starlight before slowly oscillating chords move above the dense bass and ticking drums. Brassy sounds move across the stereo channels while the drums and bass lock into a heartbeat. Xylophone notes add metallic tenderness while the intermingling, satiny synth floats.

A sweeping synth carries the affectionately touching melody, running over me like soothing hands. The massive bass collides as vocal sounds exhale and a whale vocalization shifts. Chimes exude brilliant light as the drums and bass throb. The xylophone shines while a pellucid synth floats, creating thoughtful relaxation.

Fluting sounds breathe out, full of calming sensations. The drums drop away as the bass growls softly and chimes glimmer. A piano moves with aching lightness, the notes rushing as fluting sounds help evoke a rainy night. The xylophone glitters while the low end drives on. The metallic sounds are soothing and a whale calls again as exhaling voices pass by before the track ends.

“Kyoto Sunset” opens as a silky synth moves in billowing drifts. Metallic bells echo deeply as the dense bass rises up like an ocean current and reverently hovering notes slip outward. Images of a city drenched in orange glow and lit by a thousand neon lights fill the music and draw me in.

Breathy sounds sweep as chimes flash and a shakuhachi adds its own sonic quality. The drums now break in as a vocal sound echoes and the shakuhachi breathes out. A sax drifts with a mournfully emotive melody as wordless vocals shift. The drums pulse as the sax moves, permeated by loneliness.

A jazz organ slips past with a thoughtful melody, tinged with mournful feelings. The huge drums throb as flickering chimes gently call out. I am drawn to the peace which fills the music, the sax crying out with loss. Chimes glow again while the drums and bass rebound. The distant vocals breathe out and metallic notes shine before the track comes to an end.

Conclusion

Tokyo Nights improves on the previous projects that L’Avenue has created. This is the culmination of his special sound—extremely well produced and full of layered beauty. The way in which he has woven Japanese elements throughout the music adds a fascinating quality to the whole project. This is one of my favourite albums of the year thus far.