Wao

Description

Born of a happy accident, the album Wao brings together Joseph Shabason, Nicholas Krgovich, and the cult Japanese duo Tenniscoats (Saya & Takashi Ueno) for a poetic and suspended interlude of free improvisation. Recorded in two days by the ocean at the Guggenheim House artist residency in Kobe, the album is the fruit of a rare moment of collective grace. Without a plan or score, the musicians let their instruments speak, guided by intuition and the simplicity of an immediate connection forged on stage during a joint tour in Japan. Each track seems to emerge in the moment, without premeditation, like a whispered musical conversation. Saya's fragile vocals, Shabason's jazzy and minimalist textures, Krgovich's melodic sweetness blend with everyday sounds—creaking doors, a distant train—seamlessly integrating into the sonic flow. From this organic and light material emerge pieces like "A Fish Called Wanda" or "Departed Bird," tender fragments of a shared moment, where blur becomes language. Halfway between Tenniscoats' experimental folk and the Canadian duo's muffled pop, Wao weaves a delicate, almost dreamlike thread, echoing its title, breathed in a whisper by Saya at the end of a take: "Oh... wao." A discreet but eloquent exclamation that perfectly summarizes the spirit of the album—that of a fleeting and precious human and musical encounter, like a secret whispered in one's ear.