Riverside Music

Yousei Suzuki took a lengthy break between his previous record and Riverside Music, but he wasn’t just idly passing the time. The guitarist and label owner of Senri Records was digging deep, attempting for the first time in his career to make, in his words, a “song album” rather than the atmospheric sketching of past projects. Influenced by the bluesmen like Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt that were his inspirations for picking up the guitar, Yousei sings in a vulnerable croon and plays the most melodic music of his catalog. It’s still got the airy hallmarks of his signature play that combines Japanese and American blues, but this time it’s more personal.