Reviewed on Friday January 23
One of the more curious additions to this year’s Sydney Festival program, Japanese contempo-pop singer Salyu brought her Salyu x Salyu show to Australia for the first time. A collaboration with Japanese superproducer Cornelius, the concept album saw the singer stretching her voice as an instrument, utilising loop pedals and multiple harmonies to create soundscapes. Touring with a five-piece band, with a co-singer alternating on parts and harmonies, the sound was large and intricate, with Cornelius taking a back seat as guitarist. The contemporary jazz-pop of the show was very slick, with the band extremely tight and well-oiled throughout.
With most of the songs in Japanese, a projection behind the band showed images of the first letter of each word sung, morphing to form large strings of letters onscreen. While this was probably not a nod to the difference in language, it formed an interesting pattern which put focus on the sounds and musicianship, rather than what was being sung. A kind of contemporary nod to jazz vocalists singing syllables rather than words, it allowed for a renewed experience for a non-Japanese speaking audience.
Not too much is known about Salyu in Australia apart from this collaboration, although she has had much of a solo career in her homeland, beginning as a fictional singer named Lily Chou-Chou in 2000 before releasing music as Salyu. Largely, the crowd consisted mainly of curious folk who had a leaning for Japanese pop culture and a knowledge of Cornelius’ work, but all left amazed at the musicianship and high craft of a singer at the top of her game. This wasn’t a high-Kawaii colour fest à la Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, but a well-constructed and clever presentation of contemporary pop. Hopefully we’ll see more of a hankering for this level of Asian culture in the very near future.
