Nowhere

Description

We come from nowhere and we return there, leaving behind the misty dreams and dark anxieties of this life. Life is an enigma, and it is with great respect for the uncertainties of this truth that Nowhere by Masaki Batoh (Ghost, The Silence) emerges from darkness, with steel strings and voices that resonate out of time. During the summer of 2018, Masaki Batoh held sessions at the GOK Sound studio in Tokyo with the aim of creating his fourth solo album. With a pure folk singer approach, he began recording as a simple live guitar/voice performance, using only two microphones. When more elements were needed, they were added, but the most important thing for him was to record his performances as quickly as possible. GOK Sound is a fully analog recording studio, and after Masaki Batoh added a few elements like bass, percussion, vocal harmonies, electric guitar, harp, and a bit of mellotron (all these instruments played by Batoh himself over his initial recording track), along with the necessary reverb, the world of Nowhere became as deep and sparkling as he hoped, honoring the spiritual intentions of his songs. Batoh played the basic tracks with 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars, primarily using a 1973 Guild D-40 and a 1972 Guild F-212. He also used two 1968 Gibson guitars (a J50 and a B12), a 1972 Martin D18, a 1966 5-string Pirles banjo, and a Gibson Firebird electric guitar. All the instruments were tuned in Drop D, a tuning he was taught in the early 80s by the legendary British folk musician Martin Carthy when Batoh was passing through London. Many songs on Nowhere, sung in English, Japanese, and even one in Latin, refer to his youth when he traveled the world and confronted the greatness and smallness of humanity. The sound of Nowhere reflects with great dimensional richness the world that Batoh has traversed, a vast space where the music of many eras resonates, performed and sung in the languages of many nations. It is a world where the guitar can play songs just as it did hundreds of years ago, or play in a hallucinogenic style, or—like in the final track—play with an open heart and mind without really knowing precisely where it will all end. Batoh's music aspires to find a common tradition among all these diverse musics, to move them forward with his own style, and to provoke a shared desire to promote humanity in the listener. Batoh has opened a door for you, and if you manage to step through it, Nowhere awaits you.