Anamnesis by Asta Hiroki x Tristan de Liège

Long-time collaborators Asta Hiroki and Tristan de Liège join forces on their debut album ‘Anamnesis’, a compelling display of Jazz and Beat based compositions spanning a wide array of musical territories. Recorded primarily at Brighton Electric Studios in free flowing ideas sessions before being refined with further musical and mixing contributions from Japan, Germany, Cyprus, France, and the US. The project has been truly global, with the immediacy of the live sessions and consequent additional cultural influences bubbling up throughout the record.

With both artists carving their own identities within the Alternative Beats and Electronica space, ‘Anamnesis’ showcases the work of two experts, creatively aligned to develop something eclectic, new, and unique. The delicate and intricate melodic work of Tristan de Liège, coupled with the nuanced composition and mix attention of Asta Hiroki paint a collage of thoughtful gems that straddle multiple musical worlds.

Having previously collaborated on the pristine ‘Untied’ EP, this new album presents a captivating development in their combined efforts. Via 14 new tracks they explore the many facets of their sound, picking up where they had left off to give us all a deeper look into their intriguing and cerebral musical world. From ambient interludes, hard bass-led alt hip hop to gorgeous exotica there’s a lot to unpack in this collection that on paper shouldn’t sound as cohesive as it does.

Tracks such as ‘relate, remake’ show clear development of artistry whilst still keeping to their style. Here, Thundercat inspired bass riffs accompany the frantic but minimalistic scattergun drums underscoring an ethereal concoction of ambient pads, keys, flutes & perfectly blended vocals performed by collaborator Muhsinah (Robert Glasper, Common, Flying Lotus). The contrasting nature of fast and slow imparts visions of a peaceful train ride at night amongst the hustle and bustle of a lively city.

We also find blissfully layered and charming approaches with ‘pause, breath’ and ‘awake, eyes up’, similarly pulling together traditional Hip-Hop rhythms combined with intimate, tactile textures that gel together seamlessly amongst orchestral ambience. The resulting compositions have a sense of mystery, lightly touched by hints of nostalgia.

The producers navigate a wide variety of moods and aesthetics throughout the album, carefully implementing influences from outside of their usual genres. ‘define, derive’ is but one instance of this, showcasing fluttering synths that share style notes from Future Bass. Here though, the melding together of beat work and synth play creates a pleasantly gorgeous, low-key environment that highlights the forward thinking approach of these artists.

Adding further intrigue to the record, all tracks have been titled in two sections separated by a comma, sometimes including synonyms for a similar concept, other times starting and completing a literary idea, and other times featuring two elements seemingly at odds with each other. This further encapsulates the duality of their creative process and gives an extra layer of conceptualism and realism to the shared project.

In short, ‘Anamnesis’ is a culmination of masterfully put together eclectic beats with so much detail and range in scope. Yet Hiroki and de Liege are able to traverse their explorative approach whilst still aligning within the styles they are known for, which is as much an impressive feat as the project is enjoyable to listen to whilst removing a comfort zone.

Respectively have been recognised across the music landscape in various media. Touting radio coverage from BBC Radio 1, BBC6Music, Jazz FM, FIP & KCRW, as well as blog support from renowned outlets The Guardian & CLASH MAGAZINE (not to mention the multitude of editorial placements on Spotify and AppleMusic), it is clear that both artists are rising up as heavyweights in their respective fields.

Asta Hiroki and Tristan de Liège are longtime collaborators with respected catalogues spanning cinematic downtempo, nu jazz, electronica and hip hop. After meeting in person for the first time in 2021 they recorded an EP over a weekend in Cyprus, and so began a new project born of a mutual love of explorative leftfield styles, and a more human, live approach to music creation.