breath mark / vocal guitar contrabass (LP)

Breath mark, the solo unit by Takatsugu Futaba, has released his first new album in 17 years, "vocal guitar contrabass"!
This album condenses the musical elements he discovered through many live sessions.

In 1999, he released his debut mini-album "DYNAMO," co-produced with Takahiro Haruno of SILENT POETS, and in 2001 he released a maxi-single that included a cover of Akihiro Miwa's "Yoitomake no Uta."
Breath Mark, an artist who has continued to move people's hearts across genres, will release their long-awaited new album, "Vocal Guitar Contrabass," on vinyl and digitally on June 18th, their first in 17 years since their previous album, "N no Tsugi."

This album weaves together guitar arpeggios, double bass, and vocal sounds, and includes songs filled with poetic emotion that were born from changes in her family and life, such as "Karasu," "Natarimae," and "Inochi no Hi."
The album contains six songs, including "Shitattarazu (Goshu Ondo)," an arrangement of the Shiga folk song Goshu Ondo.
The album was finally completed after several years of devoting himself to recording, pursuing the idea of ​​singing while playing guitar arpeggios, which are at the heart of the sound.

Another major feature of this work is the artist's spirit of exploration into the double bass instrument.
When this instrument is played with a bow, it takes on a new appearance as a double bass. Fascinated by the diverse range of tones it produces, Futaba himself recorded the sound of the double bass played with a bow using a double bass given to him by a friend.
Takuyuki Moriya participated in the recording of the double bass. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the production progressed by sharing audio recordings he had made at home via email.
Furthermore, Niwa himself actively works on repairing instruments, reflecting his attention to detail.
In addition, all of the artwork, including the jacket illustration, was created by himself.

The sound image that was born after many years of trial and error is condensed into the album title "vocal guitar contrabass."
The result is a one-of-a-kind album filled with simple yet delicate and powerful music.

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<Comments from the artist on the songs>

1. I wrote this song and sang it in Seoul, Korea, right around the time when the crow family was born and the scenery I saw changed dramatically.
Encouraged by the reaction, I became more motivated and put in many times more energy than I did with the other songs.

2. Perhaps the song is about the feeling of standing barefoot on Kurayami Beach and having the sand on your feet carried away by the returning waves.

3. Shitattarazu (Goshu Ondo)
Daikichi Yoshida, a sitar player, proposed covering this Shiga folk song. He says that the best part of folk songs is the variations on them.
The story I created is about a man who, one early morning in the middle of winter, was wandering the desert collecting minerals and thinking about reincarnation, when he saw a praying mantis shedding its skin.

4. The theme of this song is bats getting along. I wrote it on a summer afternoon when it started raining and I could hear the sound of the neighborhood association's portable shrine.
I like to incorporate the image of Okinawan or Balinese scales into chord progressions like this.

5. It's no surprise, she started using my last name when she was 12 years old. She sings Deloren in Shitattarazu.
Perhaps the story depicts a man who is faced with the idea of ​​what it is like to be a child, with no choice but to imagine it by mixing it with his own thoughts about his own childhood, and guessing at what it is like.

6. Inochinohi I wrote this after my father's death.

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breath mark

breath mark is a solo unit by Futaba Takatsugu.
Born December 23, 1966. He spent his childhood in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and his middle and high school years in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. He graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Tama Art University. He was influenced by the Beatles as an elementary school student and began composing music in high school. During his university years, he was active in the funk band "PANTY SCANTY." Around 1999, together with fellow band member Takahiro Haruno, he began releasing CDs and performing live as Breath Mark.
To date, they have released the albums "DYANAMO," "SOMA," "Breakwater Sky," "Yoitomake no Uta," "Taiyo no Hito," and "N no Tsugi."
The main session members were Tsutomu Kurihara, Takayoshi Matsunaga, and Daikichi Yoshida.
At the same time, he performed live with Tsuyoshi Habu as a duo called Takeshi Koji, and from then on he focused on recording.

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Songs included

■Track list:
Side A
1. Crow
2. Darkness
3. Shitattarazu (Goshu Ondo)

Side B
1. Bats
2. It's a given
3. Life

Product information

Artist: breath mark
Title：vocal guitar contrabass
Label: breath mark / TUFF BEATS
Format: LP/DIGITAL
Cat No.: TBV-0079
Barcode: 4580187181410
Price: 4,800 yen + tax Release date: Wednesday, June 18, 2025