Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2013
As the singer for visionary left-field alt-rockers eX-Girl, Kirilola defined a peculiarly tripped-out form of rock and roll. For close to a decade from the late ’90s, their spacey punk-prog, operatic vocals and frog-inspired lyrics garnered fans-in-the-know like Faith No More’s Mike Patton, who took them on tour.
With eX-Girl on indefinite hiatus, Kirilola has been performing as a solo act. Stripping herself of her electrified rock trappings, she’s exploring the possibilities of a more traditionally Japanese esthetic. This is suggested by the title for her latest album, Nuri-eMaki, which refers to a type of Japanese painting infused with sprinkles of gold and silver. Her object, it seems, is to bewitch you with her solo voice, and then hypnotize you with her strange, kimono-inspired costume creations.
The upcoming performance sees Kirilola reunited with mercurial eX-Girl producer Hoppy Kamiyama on piano. Predictably unpredictable avant-garde cellist and electric drill and saw manipulator Hiromichi Sakamoto, and percussionist Youichi Okabe fill out the quartet.
The title of the show, “Uneri,” or “Groundswell of the Time,” refers to Japan’s recent disaster, a balm for which Kirilola believes can be found in traditional Japanese song, melody and rhythm.
