Nanaco Sato shares ‘A Bullet Hole In My Ear’ from new album ‘LUST’
Nanaco Sato | Photo Credit: Meisha Fujishiro
The inimitable and borderless Japanese poet and singer-songwriter Nanaco Sato has shared a new single titled ‘A Bullet Hole In My Ear’. The track, which was premiered last week on Magnet, follows the recent announcement of her new album ‘LUST’, which is out on 25th September via London analog specialists Gearbox Records (Knats, Art Blakey, Robin Katz, Liza Lo, Elliot Galvin).
The single also follows the release of the album’s lead track ‘A Rolling Stone From Heaven‘, which was released in April and featured a guest contribution from the late British guitarist John Renbourn of renowned British folk-rock band Pentangle and was accompanied by a B-side which sees the track remixed by Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx.
Written in the mid-90s following a conversation with the late Jan Hoet, the legendary curator of Documenta 9 and director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent, Belgium, the new single ‘A Bullet Hole In My Ear’ combines Sato’s ethereal vocals with free-flowing guitars with mellifluous bass lines and expressive drumming to create a poignant and powerful reflection on war.
Speaking on the single, Sato says “One day, he [Hoet] said something to me that I have never forgotten: “War is a bullet hole in the ear.”
Those words hit me like lightning. I suddenly imagined the terrifying moment when an eardrum is pierced—when something inside you is lost forever. The image stayed with me, and soon afterwards I wrote the poem A Bullet Hole In My Ear. It became a song about the madness of war and the power of love that stands against it.
The following year, in 1996, I travelled to London because I felt an overwhelming need to give shape to the music that was overflowing inside me. I wanted to record with musicians whose spirit I loved, and recording at Maison Rouge Studios was an unforgettable experience.
The core band consisted of guitarist Dan Boutwood, guitarist Susumu Osada, drummer Charlie Price—one of Dan's closest friends—and bassist James Denham. They were extraordinary musicians who captured the spirit of the alternative music scene of the time.
The recording sessions were almost entirely spontaneous. I brought a collection of poems I had written, chose one according to how I felt that day, handed it to the musicians, and we began playing. There was no fixed plan. We simply trusted the moment.
When I showed them A Bullet Hole In My Ear, I said, “Let's do this one next.” Someone would start playing a phrase, and the rest of us would instinctively follow, as though we were pushing a boat out into an open current and letting it find its own direction.
Looking back, I think we captured both the emotional depth and the landscape of that poem with remarkable beauty and power. Even though we had never played together before, it felt like a real band from the very first moment we met. There was an immediate sense of trust, freedom, and shared imagination. Those days at Maison Rouge remain some of the most inspiring recording sessions of my life.”
Hear/share ‘A Bullet Hole In My Ear’ here
Having sat in Sato’s closet for 29-years, the new album was recorded across 1996-97 at Maison Rouge, the album captures not only Sato’s truly eclectic nature but also a snapshot of spontaneous, jam-session recordings that feature a vast array of estimable musicians such as Danny Cummings (Dire Straits / Bryan Adams), Brinsley Ford (AZWAD), Dan Boutwood (Iannello), James Denham (Addict), Charlie Price (Scissor Men), and many more.
Tracks here span everything from abstract jazz vocals (‘Love Trip’), Tibetan folk (‘The Sorrow Of The Wind’), and psychedelic pop (‘Mad Memories’) to global rhythms (‘Angel Whispers Midnight’), avant-rock (‘A Dirge For Coral’), undulating sitars (‘Never Ending Love Letter’), funk-rock workouts (‘Hell’s Bloom’), and much more. It’s a record that defies neat categorisation, and speaks to both Sato’s prolific and explorative musical career, as well as the unconstrained way in which it was conceived.
Going on to speak about the writing of the album, she says, “I brought lots of poems I'd written, chose one based on how I felt in the moment, showed it to everyone, shared a few keywords about the kind of song I wanted next, and we recorded as we jammed. 'LUST' is a complete dream recording, it was incredibly thrilling and fun. I'm sure everyone involved - the late John Renbourn, engineer Akira Fujii, and the now-defunct legendary studio Maison Rouge- would be delighted.”
‘LUST’ is out 25th september via gearbox records – pre-order here
More information about Nanaco Sato:
Born in Tokyo in 1955, Nanaco Sato’s unique, coquettish hushed voice saw her become a pioneer of the Shibuya-kei movement (an eclectic Japanese pop microgenre from the mid-to-late 1990s, originating in Tokyo's Shibuya district). A fount of creativity, Sato has been releasing music for over 45-years with a discography that has seen her work with the likes of Nippon Columbia, EMI Japan, and Bella Union, collaborating with Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymond, who produced her 1998 album ‘Luminous Love In 2023’. Further collaborations also saw Sato work with the likes of Japanese luminaries such as Moonriders, Kazuhiko Kato, and Pizzicato Five, the latter of which she had a worldwide hit with (‘Twiggy Twiggy’).
In addition to her ongoing musical career, Sato is also a skilled photographer and filmmaker, having lived in Paris for 5 years making short films, she also studied film making at New York University. Ever the renaissance woman, she has created advertisements and commercials for Nissan, as well as working for numerous musical publications, and creating artwork for other artists.
Sato also regularly performs in a jazz and rock-oriented trio with guitarist Susumu Osada, who also appears on ‘LUST’.
Tracklisting:
1. Home Sweet Home
2. The Sorrow Of The Wind
3. Love Trip
4. Mad Memories
5. Lust - Love Underground
6. A Bullet Hole In My Ear
7. Never Ending Love Letter
8. Angel Whispers Midnight
9. Hazy Sky
10. Hell’s Bloom
11. A Postman’s Love
12. A Dirge For Coral
13. Rainbow
14. A Rolling Stone From Heaven
